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Last week, we pined for an end to the debate over a new state flag. When it comes to a different Flagg debate, however, the conversation will hopefully be stretching on for many years.
If there is any debate about the best college basketball player right now, a kid from Maine is leading the way. Seventeen-year-old Duke freshman Cooper Flagg, who just a few years ago was helping lead Nokomis to a Maine high school state championship alongside his brother Ace, is already living up to the sky-high hype.
Cooper Flagg has long been considered a top NBA draft prospect, he wowed some of the best players in the world this summer while training alongside the U.S. Olympic team, and is already the go-to player on one of the best college teams in the country. Even with all the expectation that has surrounded him for years, it is still hard to fathom that a young man from Maine is such a dominant force in the basketball world.
Even more impressive might be the way he is going about that domination. Flagg is doing it all for Duke, scoring points while hitting the boards, getting his teammates involved and proving to be a disruptive force on defense. His complete approach to the game helped power the 12th-ranked Blue Devils past No. 17 Arizona on Friday night.
Two weeks ago, in a matchup between Duke and Kentucky, two of the most storied basketball programs in the country, a kid from Maine was the best player on the court. And it still was considered a “setback” by some because of a couple of late turnovers. Even the setbacks are proving to be learning experiences, however. He was named ACC men’s basketball Rookie of the Week soon after.
Cooper Flagg is almost making it look effortless so far this season, as if it is normal for a 17-year-old to captivate the basketball world. But his rise has been anything but normal, and anything but effortless. We know that his greatness is the result of years of hard work and preparation. And more importantly, young athletes in Maine know it too.
For all the attention that the Flagg brothers get from scouts, it may be the attention they’re getting from youth athletes in Maine and around the country that matters most. That attention was front and center this summer, when the brothers hosted a youth camp at the University of Maine in August.
“I just want to meet him and improve and get better,” fifth-grader Oliver Gariepy of Bar Harbor told the Bangor Daily News at the time. “[Cooper and Ace] always have amazing passing, and there’s nobody mainly taking up the ball. If he’s from Maine, and I’m also from Maine, I have a feeling I can maybe do it too.”
That is an example of lasting impact that can’t be tallied on a stat sheet. The generational talent from the Flaggs could help build a new generation of talent here in a state that hasn’t typically been known as a basketball powerhouse.
By coming home to play his college ball here in Maine, Ace Flagg is further building on that inspiration. Maine kids are going to have a front row seat to the next stage in Ace’s development following his commitment to play at UMaine next season.
“He knew in his heart where he wanted to be,” Matt MacKenzie, who has helped coach the Flagg brothers in their years-long rise, told BDN reporter Larry Mahoney in October.
Maine fans are excited to welcome him home, along with another star player who left the state to expand their basketball horizons. Bailey Breen, who previously won two state championships with Oceanside High School before heading south to Montverde Academy in Florida for her senior high school season, will be part of an exciting recruiting class for the University of Maine women’s basketball team.
“The Class of 2025 is critical to continuing the success of Maine women’s basketball,” coach Amy Vachon said in a press release. “Each one of these young women fit with our culture off the court and will contribute to the winning tradition on the court. Black Bear Nation will be ecstatic that they chose UMaine to be their home for the next four years.”
Thanks to these players, and their years of hard work, Maine is at the center of the basketball universe right now. Let’s not lose sight of how special that is, or how we arrived at this exciting moment.