"Was really hard for him": Cooper Flagg's mom Kelly makes her feelings known on Duke star's injury setback days away from March Madness

Duke won the ACC Tournament this season, but the team didn't have freshman phenom Cooper Flagg to help it along the way. Flagg exited in the first half of Thursday's quarterfinal game against Georgia Tech.

The Duke star's mom, Kelly Flagg, spoke to People magazine, detailing how Cooper was impacted by the injury and his time away from the team.

"I know it was really hard for him to feel helpless and not be out there with his team," she said. "But I think in the long run, this may end up working out well for our team because the other guys really stepped up and they played great without him, and it gave them some confidence."

ACC Tournament championship: Duke vs. Louisville - Source: Imagn

Kelly Flagg said that this was the first time Flagg ever had to sit out for a game and reflected on her thoughts in the moments following his injury.

After going up for a rebound, Flagg landed on the foot of Yellow Jackets player Darrion Sutton and fell to the floor.

"I was like, 'Oh, no, how can this be happening now?'" she said. "He got through the entire season fairly injury-free, other than he got poked in the eye, he had some cramping, but nothing major that sidelined him."

ACC Tournament championship: Duke vs. Louisville - Source: Imagn

After the injury, the freshman spent several minutes sitting on his team's bench before being helped to the locker room. At halftime, he was taken in a wheelchair to get X-rays.

What's next for Cooper Flagg and the Blue Devils?

Duke is the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and will begin its March Madness journey on Friday. It will play the winner of the American vs. Mount St. Mary's First Four contest. The Blue Devils will likely have many fans at their first-round matchup, as they're playing close to home in Raleigh, N.C.

On ESPN's "Bracketology," Duke coach Jon Scheyer said he expects to have Flagg ready for the team's first March Madness game.

"From my perspective, it's full steam ahead," Scheyer said Sunday. "I want to get Coop back as quickly as I can, and he wants to do the same. Obviously, tomorrow is important. Today was an off day, we got back late (from the ACC Tournament).

"We are hoping he can start to progress starting tomorrow with doing some on-court work and then build up to where he can practice later in the week. Our goal is for Friday. No question about that."

Flagg is expected to suit up for the Blue Devils in Friday's first-round contest. The dominant freshman has been an essential piece to Duke's success and will look to move forward from his injury and lead his team on a long March Madness run.