Mackenzie Holmes and Cooper Flagg make Maine history in WNBA and NBA at same time

By Matt Junker, Bangor Daily News Sports Editor

What a time to be alive, and to be a Maine basketball fan.

The Pine Tree State has produced some talented players over the years, and even a few professionals. But never has Maine been represented on both the NBA and WNBA courts at the same time.

Until now. 

Maine natives Mackenzie Holmes and Cooper Flagg have not just worked their way to the highest level in pro basketball. They have also made Maine history in the process. 

“For sure, this is unprecedented having two native Mainers, who played high school basketball in Maine, being in the top leagues in our country,” said Maine Basketball Hall of Fame Executive Director Todd Hanson, who began his high school playing career at Piscataquis Community High School. “It’s really, really great.”

Holmes, a two-time state champion at Gorham High School who went on to become the all-time scoring leader at Indiana University, battled back from knee surgery to earn a spot on the Seattle Storm roster in June. The Storm drafted her last year and released her earlier this season before bringing her back following the trade of another player.  

Flagg, who won a state title at Nokomis Regional High School in Newport and took home nearly every player of the year award in men’s college basketball while at Duke University, was selected first overall in this year’s NBA draft. He launched his professional career with the Dallas Mavericks earlier this month in the NBA Summer League. 

Both of those journeys already place Flagg and Holmes securely among the Mount Rushmore of Maine basketball players in just their rookie seasons. But the fact that they are soaring to such great heights at the same time is even more remarkable. 

“We’re really fortunate,” said Tony Hamlin, who spent more than 30 years coaching high school basketball in the state including at his alma mater Penquis Valley High School and was a three-year starter at the University of Maine. “It’s more than a generational thing, it might be a lifetime thing. You may not, you won’t see it again in our lifetime. It’s pretty special.”

A small handful of other Maine-born players have made it to the top level of professional basketball. Cindy Blodgett, the Lawrence High School of Fairfield and UMaine legend, played four seasons in the WNBA in the 1990s. Jeff Turner, who was born in Bangor but grew up in Florida, played in the NBA in the late ’80s and early-to-mid ’90s. His time in the league did not overlap with Blodgett’s time in the WNBA. 

Current Detroit Piston Duncan Robinson was born in York, but grew up across the border in New Hampshire. 

As the first two Maine players to be born and raised here and go on to play in the top professional leagues at the same time, Holmes and Flagg boast strong ties to their home state. 

Neile Joler Nelson, a standout player at Fort Kent High School and Saint Joseph’s College in Standish who later coached Holmes as an assistant at Gorham, credited both Holmes and Flagg for how they’ve maintained those connections to the Pine Tree State. 

“I’ve been involved in Maine basketball for a long time, but I love how these kids, these two people, do not forget where they came from and they do not forget the state that raised them,” Joler Nelson said. 

She pointed to the upcoming youth basketball camp that Cooper and Ace Flagg are hosting at the University of Maine in August, along with the work Holmes does with Maine kids. 

“I mean, Cooper’s coming back and doing the camp with his brother. He doesn’t need to do that. He certainly doesn’t need the money,” Joler Nelson said. “He’s doing that to really push Maine basketball forward and say thank you for everything that the state has done.”

Holmes is “constantly working with kids” when back in Maine, Joler Nelson said. The current WNBA player has also led youth basketball clinics in the state. 

Hamlin, who previously served as executive director of the Maine Basketball Hall of Fame and like Hanson is also a hall inductee, sees Flagg and Holmes as a reflection of the state that produced them. 

“Here’s another thing that I’d like to think is unique to us, unique to Maine, is the humility that these kids have, and the work ethic,” Hamlin said. “You can see it all over both of them.”

Like Joler Nelson, Hamlin is confident that Holmes and Flagg won’t lose touch with Maine. 

“I don’t think you’ll ever have a situation where those two kids won’t come back to their hometowns and their state and contribute once they’re done playing,” Hamlin said. “So I think they represent Maine in a really super way.”

Hamlin thinks they are the two best players to come out of Maine in the last 75 years. 

“The fundamentals, the humility, the work ethic — all that’s meat and potatoes. That’s Maine,” Hamlin said. “And those kids have succeeded with the simple formula.” 

Hanson, the current state basketball hall of fame director who previously coached at Brunswick High School for 25 years and played point guard at UMaine, pointed out that both Holmes and Flagg come from prominent Maine basketball families in which both sets of parents were notable basketball players in their own right. 

And these two Mainers who grew up around the game are now helping to grow the next generation of basketball players here in the state. 

“I really think it gives hope to a lot of Maine kids,” Hanson said.