I watched Cooper Flagg’s first high school practice. I had never seen anything like it.

By Ernie Clark

My first chance to see Cooper Flagg in action was at his initial high school basketball practice.

To be honest I didn’t know what I was watching at the time, except it was nothing I had seen before.

The towering presence of Flagg and his twin brother Ace was imposing and their immediate leadership qualities as first-year high school players was readily accepted by their older teammates.

Meanwhile other Maine high school basketball fans were starving to watch anyone play after enduring the winter of 2020-21 with limited high school basketball schedules and no postseason tournament due to COVID-19.

The debuts of Cooper and Ace Flagg served to anchor a stunning comeback for the sport.

Nokomis Regional High School’s home opener featured a relatively large media contingent rarely seen for a regular-season contest, particularly at Nokomis where the Warriors had finished 1-17 in the season preceding the pandemic.

Newspaper and TV types were joined by a younger crowd from various social media outlets. And when the game ended the scene initially resembled a brief storming of the court by those hoping to gain access to the Nokomis phenoms but not familiar with the typical protocols for seeking interviews.

Cooler heads quickly prevailed, but a new tone was set for what became a magical season for the Flaggs, fellow Newporters and basketball fans around the state.

Subsequent postgames during the regular season and tournament often included younger basketball hopefuls seeking to have their sneakers or T-shirts autographed, or pictures taken with their new heroes. That happened all the way through the gold-ball ceremony at Portland’s Cross Insurance Arena.

Four years ago the dream may have been to play one day in the National Basketball Association, but the more immediate objective for Cooper Flagg likely was the pursuit of a college career. By the summer of 2021 the rangy youngster from Newport received his first scholarship offer from Bryant University, an America East rival of the University of Maine.

For anyone who had followed the exploits of Cooper and Ace Flagg as they gained prominence on the regional and national travel basketball circuits, that initial offer seemed inevitable — except that the 14-year-olds had just completed the eighth grade.

That early attention today seems like a modest step compared to the breakneck pace Cooper Flagg has taken to arrive as the No. 1 overall selection by the Dallas Mavericks in this year’s NBA draft.

While several people with Maine connections have gone on to become NBA head coaches — among them South Portland native Brett Brown, former UMaine guard Rick Carlisle, and one-time UMaine-Farmington guard Steve Clifford — there is nothing in the Pine Tree State to match Flagg’s rapid ascension as a player from hometown hero at Nokomis to the expected first American to be chosen with the NBA’s top overall pick since 2021.

Flagg became the first freshman to be named Maine’s Gatorade Basketball Player of the Year after leading Nokomis to its first state championship in boys basketball in 2022, joining Ace and older brother Hunter in bringing the gold ball home.

Later that year, Flagg went global and earned all-tournament recognition as Team USA traveled to Spain and captured the gold medal at the 2022 FIBA U17 World Cup. In the 79-67 gold-medal victory over Spain, the 15-year-old Flagg totaled 10 points, 17 rebounds, eight steals, four blocked shots and two assists.

That was followed by two years at national powerhouse Montverde Academy in Florida, where he starred for a 2023-24 squad that went 33-0 and won the 2024 Chipotle national prep title.

And while many top prep players reclassify academically to get an extra year at that level before moving on to college, Flagg took the opposite approach and graduated from Montverde a year early to accept a scholarship from a NCAA basketball powerhouse he once described as his “dream school.”

Flagg continued to dominate the sport as one of the youngest college players in the nation, winning multiple player of the year awards and earning first-team All-American status at Duke University while leading the Blue Devils to a 35-4 record and a trip to the Final Four last season.

Over the last four years, Flagg’s high school prep and college teams compiled a combined record of 112-8.

Not only has Newport and the rest of the Pine Tree State adopted the 6-foot-9 wing as a favorite son, the son of Ralph and Kelly Flagg is also a household name throughout the America sports world before he’s played his first pro game. And he won’t turn 19 until Dec. 21.

And while much of Cooper Flagg’s subsequent success has been based in Florida and North Carolina, I’m struck by the remarkable consistency in the way he has continued to play the game and how successful it has been at all levels.

He’s still very much the same player I watched at Nokomis, and it shows in the numbers.

Flagg averaged 20.5 points, 10.0 rebounds, 6.2 assists, 3.7 steals and 3.7 blocked shots per game during his winter at Nokomis.

As a freshman at Duke, he amassed team-leading averages of 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.4 blocked shots per outing for the Blue Devils. 

While he’s now bigger and stronger than he was four years ago, his game always has featured the same characteristics — athleticism, basketball IQ, talent, leadership skills, competitive fire and a devotion to team play.

Flagg often has seemed to ease his way into games statistically no matter the level, preferring to use assists and screens and other methods of assistance to help get his teammates off to good starts. And when his team needs more overt help, Flagg is typically ready to make the difference.

Such play has made Flagg an unselfish superstar and an ideal teammate.

I sometimes tell folks that I retired from covering high school sports in the newspaper business three years ago because I’d never have a better story to follow than the beginning of Cooper Flagg’s rise to basketball stardom.

That reasoning wasn’t altogether true, but I’m confident there won’t be a more inspirational sports story for any Maine kid with big aspirations anytime soon.

I plan to continue enjoying it closely from afar.

Clark, of Dover-Foxcroft, is a former BDN sportswriter who was one of the first journalists to cover Cooper Flagg during his time at Nokomis Regional High School.