Nokomis freshman Cooper Flagg takes a leap shot towards Falmouth in the course of the Class A state closing on March 5 in Portland. Flagg, who’s transferring to Montverde Academy in Florida alongside along with his twin brother, Ace, has been ranked by ESPN because the No. 3 school prospect within the Class of 2025. Ben McCanna/Employees Photographer
Accolades preserve coming for Cooper Flagg. Days after the Nokomis Regional Excessive freshman was named the Varsity Maine boys’ basketball Participant of the 12 months, ESPN ranked Flagg the third-best school basketball prospect nationwide within the Class of 2025.
The 15-year previous Flagg is charging forward into an undoubtedly vivid basketball future. Each resolution he and his twin brother, Ace, have made in terms of their burgeoning basketball careers has been made by the Flagg household with a lot thought. After main Nokomis to the primary boys’ basketball title in class historical past, Cooper and Ace will proceed their basketball careers at Florida’s Montverde Academy, a college that often produces school and NBA gamers. Seven former Montverde gamers have been chosen within the 2021 NBA draft, together with No. 1 total choose Cade Cunningham. The Flaggs ought to dash towards this chance.
The remainder of us are those who must decelerate. Cooper Flagg nicely could turn out to be one of the best basketball participant ever from Maine. However to present him that label now’s at greatest untimely, and at worst willfully unaware of historical past.
Cooper Flagg is the participant standing on the confluence of expertise and time – a particularly gifted participant in an period wherein nothing goes unnoticed. This season, the 6-foot-7 Flagg averaged 20.5 factors, 10 rebounds, 6.2 assists, 3.7 steals, and three.7 blocks per sport. He made 62 p.c of his shot. Each dunk made the rounds on social media, and that helped create the hyperbole.
A current spotlight video on YouTube referred to him because the “LeBron of Maine.” That’s completely, positively, 100% ludicrous. It’s unhealthy kind to match any highschool athlete to an expert. It’s recklessly unhealthy kind to match a highschool athlete, even one as unquestionably gifted as Flagg, to probably the greatest gamers in basketball historical past.
That’s what social media does. It declares every little thing new one of the best and the largest. And it forgets. Mix that with the truth that Maine produces fewer NCAA Division I basketball gamers than most different states, so when a participant of Flagg’s caliber comes alongside, reminiscence will get shorter and cloudy.
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Simply within the final era, 20 years or so, we’ve seen gamers from Maine take pleasure in not solely profitable school careers, however skilled careers, too. Deering’s Nik Caner-Medley and Edward Little’s Troy Barnies have made excellent livings taking part in skilled basketball abroad after taking part in collegiately at Maryland and Maine, respectively. Messalonskee’s Nick Mayo, a self-admitted basketball late bloomer, set scoring data at Jap Kentucky and is now having fun with success as a professional participant in Japan.
Earlier than he had a stable school profession at Florida State and a professional profession in Europe, Ralph Mims scored 41 factors, together with 35 in a row, for Brunswick in a 51-42 win over Bangor within the 2004 Jap Class A championship sport. With each ounce of defensive power centered on stopping Mims, the Rams nonetheless couldn’t do it. Mims scored 80 p.c of his staff’s factors and almost outscored Bangor himself, and he didn’t rating a degree within the first quarter.
Going again a little bit farther to the Nineteen Nineties, there was TJ Caouette at Winthrop Excessive, who had 63 scholarship affords earlier than selecting to play at Villanova, and Andy Bedard, who went from Mountain Valley Excessive to basketball greenhouse Maine Central Institute (the Montverde Academy of its time) earlier than taking part in collegiately at Boston Faculty and Maine.
The gold commonplace for Maine highschool hoops continues to be Cindy Blodgett, who did issues at Lawrence that no ladies’ or boys’ basketball participant in Maine had executed earlier than or since. She simply didn’t do it on Instagram.
However Maine has by no means seen a participant as extremely touted as Cooper Flagg, and social media magnifies that. No one garnered the nationwide consideration he has attracted in such a short while. He’s potential personified. If he retains working arduous, and there’s no motive to suppose in any other case, he’ll dwell as much as it.
Cooper Flagg could find yourself one of the best basketball participant to return from Maine. In a single season of highschool ball, he’s nicely on his manner. Earlier than we crown him, although, let’s at the very least let him get his driver’s license.
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