ORONO, Maine — For the Flagg twins, it has been quite a year. Cooper Flagg has become a household name after tacking the National Basketball Association’s Rookie of the Year Award onto a mile-long list of accolades. Those accomplishments also include earning the National Player of the Year Award for his freshman season at Duke University before the Mavericks drafted him with the first overall pick. Ace Flagg had a strong finish to his freshman season at the University of Maine, which earned him a berth on the All-America East Rookie Team. The Flaggs were providing instruction to hundreds of youngsters ages 6-13 at their third annual Flagg Brothers Basketball ProCamp at the New Balance Fieldhouse and the Memorial Gym on the Orono campus this weekend. Proceeds from their camp go to the Donovan Kurt Memorial Cancer Foundation. Kurt was a former high school teammate of the third Flagg brother, Hunter. Kurt died of brain cancer in November 2022, and Cooper wore the number 2 at Duke in honor of Kurt, who wore it at Nokomis. The Flagg twins combined with older brother Hunter to lead Nokomis High of Newport to its only state Class A schoolboy basketball championship their freshman year (2021-22) before they transferred to prestigious Montverde Academy in Florida. The Flaggs are happy to provide youngsters with an opportunity to enjoy a unique experience. “We want them to soak it all in. When I was young, I didn’t have a chance to have this kind of experience or exposure to players like this. There wasn’t anything like this,” Cooper Flagg said. “It’s been great these past three years to be able to come out here and just give back,” he continued. “It’s really fun and it’s nice to have the opportunity to inspire the next generation. It has been a blessing for the both of us.” Ace Flagg noted how rewarding it is to get to know the kids by name and see them having a good time. “If we can inspire the love for the game of basketball that we had as kids and show them that the game can be fun and is supposed to be fun, that’s the main goal,” Ace Flagg said. Cooper Flagg is coming off a season in which he averaged 21 points, 6.7 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game while averaging 33.5 minutes of playing time for the 26-56 Mavericks. He shot 46.8 percent from the floor, 29.5 percent beyond the 3-point arc and 82.7 percent from the free throw line. The Mavericks will have a new look this season. They have a new president in Masai Ujiri and a new head coach in Dusty May, who led the University of Michigan to the NCAA title last season. They made a series of trades and among the newcomers obtained were former Memphis forward Santi Aldama, who averaged 14 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.9 assists this past season, and Detroit guard Marcus Sasser (5.2 points, 2 assists). Their top draft pick was forward Morez Johnson Jr. from the University of Michigan. He was picked ninth overall. And nine-time NBA All-Star guard Kyrie Irving is expected back after missing the entire 2025-26 season with a torn left anterior cruciate ligament (knee) that required surgery. “I’m really excited,” said 6-foot-9 forward Cooper Flagg, who won’t turn 20 until Dec. 21. “I was able to spend some time with Dusty and work out [there].” He said having a year under his belt will be a “big difference” since he now knows what the schedule and the travel are like. He had to make a lot of adjustments. He now also understands what teams and players like to do. “It’s a new beginning for us,” Cooper Flagg said. “It’s a fresh slate and we want to show we’ve improved. We need to stay healthy and having Kyrie is obviously going to help.” Cooper Flagg has spent some time in Maine working out with his personal coach and trainer, Matt MacKenzie, and he said he is focusing on all aspects of his game. “I’m trying to get better all-around. I’m always in the gym working on everything,” he said. Ace Flagg, a 6-foot-7 forward, has also been working on all facets of his game and feels he will be well-prepared for the upcoming season now that he knows what to expect. “One of the biggest things is I want to be more of a leader on the court. That’s a big difference from last year,” Ace Flagg said. “I need to be able to talk to my teammates a lot more and have better communication, things like that.” Ace Flagg averaged 6.7 points and 4.1 rebounds while playing 24.2 minutes a game overall but, over his last six games, he averaged 13.8 points and 4.8 rebounds per contest. “I’m really looking to getting into the season,” said Ace, whose Black Bears went 8-24 a year ago, 6-10 in the conference and lost to the New Jersey Institute of Technology 60-58 in the conference quarterfinals. “We’re getting some injured guys back. We just finished summer workouts up here in Orono and the team is looking really good. We’ve been attacking these workouts and we’re ready to get after it,” said Ace Flagg, who is looking forward to playing in the new Morse Arena, which is under construction and should be open sometime during the 2027-28 campaign. “It’s amazing. I’m really excited about it. I can’t wait to be in it,” Ace Flagg said. In assessing each other’s games, Cooper would like to see Ace become more aggressive. “He gets very passive sometimes but maybe that’s because it was his freshman year. But he has to be aggressive all the time,” Cooper said. Ace said his brother has to “toughen up a little bit. Don’t let those older guys push you around as much.” The Flagg twins, mother Kelly (Bowman), father Ralph, brother Hunter and grandfather Dan Bowman participated on the game show “Celebrity Family Feud” and beat the team from Barstool Sports, 543-0, before winning $25,000 in the Fast Money round. The money went to the Ronald McDonald House in Dallas. “Obviously, winning made it more fun. But the whole experience was really cool,” Cooper Flagg said. Being able to get home to Maine is special for Cooper Flagg, who is one of the basketball world’s best-known basketball players. “It’s great to be home. It’s very private. Very low-key. It’s good. It’s time I cherish, for sure,” Cooper Flagg said. One of the things the Flaggs enjoy doing in their spare time is play golf. “My game has gotten a lot better,” Cooper Flagg said. “I’m getting there.”
