Flagg Rising: A look at how Maine’s Cooper Flagg reached basketball stardom
HE MAY BE GONE, BUT NOT FORGOTTEN. IN THE WINTER OF 2021, WORD WAS SPREADING IN BASKETBALL CIRCLES AROUND THE STATE OF A HARD COURT PRODIGY, SOMETHING ALMOST MYTHICAL THAT THESE PARTS HAD NEVER SEEN BEFORE. AN EIGHTH GRADER FROM NEWPORT BY THE NAME OF COOPER FLAGG, HIS SEVENTH AND EIGHTH GRADE SEASONS, I THINK, WERE THE FIRST TIME THAT OTHER PEOPLE IN THE STATE OF MAINE REALLY STARTED TO SORT OF KNOW WHO HE WAS, AND CERTAINLY WHEN WE TRAVELED IN THOSE GYMS, THERE WERE SOME, YOU KNOW, LITTLE TINY KIDS IN MIDDLE SCHOOL THAT WERE LIKE, OH MY GOD, WHAT ARE WE GETTING INTO HERE TODAY? I MEAN, OBVIOUSLY IT’S PRETTY UNBELIEVABLE TO SEE A KID AT THAT LEVEL IN MIDDLE SCHOOL BE ABLE TO DO THE THINGS THAT HE COULD DO. IT WAS IT WAS I MEAN, OBVIOUSLY VERY, VERY SPECIAL. DAWSON TOWNSEND, A SENIOR AT NOKOMIS HIGH, WAS FRONT AND CENTER FOR IT ALL. A LIFELONG FRIEND OF THE FLAGG BROTHERS. HE’S OFTEN ASKED ABOUT THOSE DAYS, BUT HIS RELATIONSHIP RUNS DEEPER. A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW HIM AS A BASKETBALL PLAYER, BUT MOST PEOPLE WHO ACTUALLY KNOW HIM FROM NOKOMIS, THEY JUST KNOW THAT HE’S A GREAT KID. HE HAD A HE HAS A CONTAGIOUS PERSONALITY AND A LOT OF PEOPLE, YOU KNOW, LIKE HIM. HE’S HE WAS A GREAT IN SCHOOL, GOT GOOD GRADES, GOOD ROLE MODEL FOR ALL THE KIDS. NOW FLAGG IS A ROLE MODEL WORLDWIDE. THE PROJECTED NUMBER ONE PICK IN THE DRAFT STARRING AT DUKE WHEN HE SHOULD BE A SENIOR IN HIGH SCHOOL. BUT JUST AROUND THE SAME TIME, WORD WAS GETTING OUT ABOUT HIS FRIEND’S ABILITY, TOWNSEND STARTED TO REALIZE IT, TOO. COOPER WAS A LITTLE DIFFERENT. I MEAN, I ALWAYS KNEW THAT HE WAS BETTER THAN EVERYONE ELSE, BUT EIGHTH GRADE YEAR HE WAS AVERAGING LIKE 15 POINTS A GAME IN DUNKS ALONE. BY THAT POINT, HE WAS WELL TRAVELED IN THE AAU CIRCUIT. AND THEN IT WASN’T JUST TOWN TEAMMATES, BUT HIS CLUB TEAMMATES. REALIZING SOMETHING WAS GOING ON, GABE LASH RECALLS A BIG TOURNAMENT IN VIRGINIA. THEY GOT US UP AGAINST LIKE TWO YEARS OLDER THAN US, LIKE WE’RE SEVENTH GRADE, PROBABLY LIKE A MAYBE LIKE A 17 YEAR TEAM. BOO WILLIAMS TEAM. AND ALL THESE GUYS ARE BIGGER THAN US. LIKE THEY BRING LIKE A COUPLE OF GUYS DOWN TO THEY WANT TO BEAT US BECAUSE WE HAD A GREAT RUN. AND SO COOPER COOPER WENT OFF THAT GAME LIKE THEY’RE TRIPLE TEAMING HIM. BUT COOPER STILL DID HIS THING. THE CLUB TEAM, MAINE UNITED, REACHED A NEW LANDMARK WHEN IT WENT TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP OF THE PRESTIGIOUS PEACH JAM TOURNAMENT, A MAINE TEAM VERSUS A NATIONAL ALL STAR TEAM. COOPER WAS KIND OF THE LEADER OF THAT. IF YOU GUYS WERE WATCHING US, THAT’S WHAT KIND OF CRAZY. SO JUST HIM, HIM ALWAYS BELIEVING IN ALL OF US SAYING THIS, THIS IS OUR GAME. THIS IS OUR GAME. BELIEVE. SO JUST GOING THROUGH THAT WHOLE PEACH JAM TOURNAMENT, KNOWING LIKE GOING INTO THE GAME THAT WE’RE GOING TO WIN. EXPERIENCES LIKE THAT WERE BENEFICIAL FOR HIS AAU TEAMMATES WHO STEPPED UP THEIR GAME AND NOW ARE READY TO EMBARK ON COLLEGE CAREERS OF THEIR OWN. HE WAS MOST OF THE REASON THAT WE GOT TO PLAY IN THOSE HIGH LEVEL TOURNAMENTS AND JUST PRACTICING AND PLAYING AGAINST ALL THESE GREAT PLAYERS, JUST YOU HAD TO BE AT THE TOP OF YOUR GAME EVERY TIME. EVERY TIME YOU STEPPED ON THE COURT. IF YOU WEREN’T LOOKING FOR IT, YOU JUST MIGHT MISS IT. HIGH ABOVE THE COURT AT NOKOMIS HIGH SCHOOL IS EVIDENCE OF COOPER’S ONE YEAR OF MAINE HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL, WHICH MAKES A BASKETBALL FAN WONDER. WHAT WOULD HE PUT UP FOR STATS THIS YEAR? AS A SENIOR AT NOKOMIS IF HE DECIDED TO WAIT A YEAR TO GO TO DUKE? I MEAN, WE’VE TALKED ABOUT IT LIKE WE THINK THAT IF HE WANTED TO, HE COULD AVERAGE 50, PROBABLY. I MEAN, HE JUST SCORED 42 AGAINST NOTRE DAME AND HE’S JUST TURNED 18. PRETTY UNBELIEVABLE THAT HE COULD
Flagg Rising: A look at how Maine’s Cooper Flagg reached basketball stardom
As Cooper Flagg looks to lead the Duke Blue Devils to victory in both the ACC and NCAA tournaments, Maine’s Total Coverage is taking an in-depth look at the Newport native’s rise to fame.Flagg started turning heads as a middle schooler, and he wound up leading Nokomis Regional High School, located in his hometown of Newport, to its first state basketball championship.Since then, Flagg has made a mark on the national and global stage. Maine’s Total Coverage has put together an interactive timeline featuring the highlights of Flagg’s career so far.This timeline will continue to be updated, as Flagg is projected to be the No. 1 overall pick in this summer’s NBA draft.PHNjcmlwdCBpZD0iaW5mb2dyYW1fMF8yMzcxZTdiMy1hZGYxLTQwY2YtYWE2OC05ZmY4MDBlY2M4MTYiIHRpdGxlPSJDb29wZXIgRmxhZ2cgY2FyZWVyIHRpbWVsaW5lOiBQYWdlIDEiIHNyYz0iaHR0cHM6Ly9lLmluZm9ncmFtLmNvbS9qcy9kaXN0L2VtYmVkLmpzP1dVSSIgdHlwZT0idGV4dC9qYXZhc2NyaXB0Ij48L3NjcmlwdD4=PHNjcmlwdCBpZD0iaW5mb2dyYW1fMF9hNDc5YmY3OC01OTgwLTQ4MWEtODJlMS01MDNlM2U3MDAzY2YiIHRpdGxlPSJDb29wZXIgRmxhZ2cgY2FyZWVyIHRpbWVsaW5lOiBQYWdlIDIiIHNyYz0iaHR0cHM6Ly9lLmluZm9ncmFtLmNvbS9qcy9kaXN0L2VtYmVkLmpzP3ozViIgdHlwZT0idGV4dC9qYXZhc2NyaXB0Ij48L3NjcmlwdD4=
As Cooper Flagg looks to lead the Duke Blue Devils to victory in both the ACC and NCAA tournaments, Maine’s Total Coverage is taking an in-depth look at the Newport native’s rise to fame.
Flagg started turning heads as a middle schooler, and he wound up leading Nokomis Regional High School, located in his hometown of Newport, to its first state basketball championship.
Since then, Flagg has made a mark on the national and global stage. Maine’s Total Coverage has put together an interactive timeline featuring the highlights of Flagg’s career so far.
This timeline will continue to be updated, as Flagg is projected to be the No. 1 overall pick in this summer’s NBA draft.
