His jaw-dropping defense leaves fans in awe when they see him popping up from the ground to opponents’ shots with his 6-foot-8 body frame. Hailing from Maine, Cooper Flagg has captured everyone’s attention with his outstanding moves and swishing dunks. An extraordinary player, Cooper was brought up in a close-knit, basketball-loving family of five. His moves have left his opponents dumbfounded while he drives the ball under their noses.

Cooper became the Maine Gatorade Player of the Year during his freshman season at Nokomis Regional High School. His recent performance in McDonald’s All-American Game made his presence felt. With every game he plays, Flagg improvises with his timing by chasing down blocks efficiently–the feature defining his family.

Meet Cooper Flagg’s parents

Cooper, along with his older brother Hunter and twin brother Ace, has been naturally gifted with those cool athletic genes from his parents, Ralph and Kelly Flagg. His mother Kelly is a former player who used to play at the University of Maine. She reigned the court from 1995 to 1999 and was her team’s captain during her senior season.

She used to be known as Kelly Bowman at the time. During her time in the program, she delivered a remarkable performance by carrying her team to 4 consecutive American East titles. That team solidified its dominance by appearing in the NCAA tournament for those 4 years.

With Kelly’s leadership as Captain at the team’s disposal, that year’s roster made history by winning their first and only national championship title, the 1999 upset win over Stanford. Before playing for UMaine, Kelly went to Nokomis Regional High School and scored 1257 career points during her time there.

Trying her hand at the game, Kelly has also been a wonderful mother of three boys who have grown to become the basketball prodigy of today. With the sons continuing her legacy on court, Kelly also keeps them grounded and humble, preventing the success from going heavy over her son’s head.

Talking about Cooper’s father, Ralph too spent his high school career at Nokomis Regional High School. During his time in college, he played NJCAA basketball for the Eastern Maine Community College. After completing college, Ralph played in a men’s league at the local community center, alongside Kelly’s father, where he met Kelly for the first time, as he put it, “That was kind of where we met. On a basketball court.”

Cooper’s parents have dedicated their lives to nurturing and polishing his talent by providing him with the essential tools and guidance needed for success. In an incident from two years ago, Cooper Flagg’s trailblazing dunk on the opposing player’s head was making circles around the internet. It happened during Montverde’s season-opening win of 101-28. To which Kelly responded with a tweet that went viral: “Mom’s thoughts – I don’t love the stare down. Let your game do the talking. I know they all do it, but I don’t like it. I appreciate that the kid at least made the attempt to stop it.”

The tweet turned things hilarious as Cooper’s older brother, Hunter mockingly responded, “Brother thoughts – Dunk and Stare down were both badass.” 

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Maine’s first draft in 40 years

Cooper’s parents settled down in Newport, where they raised Hunter, Cooper, and Ace. Having athletic parents as an upside, the three brothers grew up with basketball in their hands, traveling around to watch games, as Kelly coached the Nokomis varsity girls’ team. She also has pictures of her sleeping in various high school rafters. Back home, Hunter, Cooper, and Ace would spend hours in the driveway, playing pickup with either their parents, friends, or with one another.

Enrolled at Duke, Cooper has already started garnering notable accolades including McDonald’s All-American, MVP of the annual NBA Players Association top-100 camp, and the 2022 FIBA U-17 Basketball World Cup All-Star.

Raised in Maine, Cooper will be the first one to be drafted after almost 40 years since Jeff Turner, who was selected by the New Jersey Nets in 1984. The University of Maine is the only Division I program in Maine. “Just because we don’t produce the big D1 athletes as much as those other states do, people don’t think basketball is as big (here). But it really is,” said Ralph Flagg. The humble state rarely ever exports talent to other programs. Besides, the Black Bears men’s team has never made it to any NCAA Tournament.

“When it comes to tournament time, the last person leaving the town turns the lights out,” Ralph added indicating the fashion in which people of Maine watch basketball games because of the lack of professional sports franchises in Maine. Moreover, the annual state high school tournaments are streamed on local TV there. The Regional and championship games, on the other hand, are played in the state’s largest arenas in Bangor, Augusta, and Portland.

So, many basketball lovers travel from far north as Madawaska, which is one of America’s ‘Four Corners’, to watch their favorite players go head to head.

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