In a house three miles from the one where she would raise him, Kelly Bowman fell in love with basketball at age seven. Her father Dan affixed a hoop to a shed in their backyard in Newport, Maine — population 3,200. They played so often the grass faded into dirt. When it got dark, Dan parked a car and turned on the headlights so his daughter could keep shooting.
Kelly starred at Nokomis Regional High School, earned a Division I scholarship to the University of Maine, became team captain, and helped win three conference championships. Ralph Flagg also attended Nokomis, played at Eastern Maine Community College. They met at a community center basketball game. He couldn't stop her up-and-under move. As a wedding present, they received a crabapple tree and planted it next to the driveway hoop where their children would grow up.
In 2004, Kelly went into premature labor at 24 weeks. Twins Hunter and Ryder were born at Maine Medical Center in Portland. Hunter weighed 1 pound, 10 ounces. Ryder weighed two ounces less. Ryder died two days later. Hunter spent 109 days in the NICU. Kelly refused to leave Portland. The Ronald McDonald House became the family's home for nearly four months.
Cooper and Ace Flagg — fraternal twins — were born on December 21, 2006, premature but healthy enough to go home for Christmas. The household in Newport was organized entirely around basketball. Kelly coached the Nokomis girls' varsity team. The boys grew up in the gym. Driveway games ended only when someone ran inside bleeding. Cooper played in a fourth-grade recreation league as a second-grader. He was already the best player on the court.
In March 2022, all three Flagg brothers — Hunter as a senior, Cooper and Ace as freshmen — led Nokomis to the school's first-ever state championship. Cooper scored 22 points and grabbed 16 rebounds in the title game. He became the first freshman in Maine history to be named Gatorade Player of the Year, averaging 20.5 points, 10.0 rebounds, 6.2 assists, 3.7 steals, and 3.7 blocks per game. The stat line was absurd — a player leading his team in every category as a fourteen-year-old in a state not known for producing elite basketball talent.
Then he left home. Cooper and Ace transferred to Montverde Academy in Montverde, Florida — the national prep powerhouse that had produced Cade Cunningham, Scottie Barnes, and D'Angelo Russell. The Flagg family relocated from Newport to Florida to keep the family together. At Montverde, Cooper's profile went from regional curiosity to global phenomenon. He was selected for the USA Basketball U17 team and won gold at the FIBA U17 World Cup, grabbing 17 rebounds against Spain in the gold medal game. He was named USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year — at fifteen years old.
He reclassified from the Class of 2025 to 2024, skipping his junior year entirely. As a senior at Montverde, he was the consensus No. 1 recruit in the nation — the most hyped prospect since LeBron James, according to some analysts. He was named the Naismith High School Player of the Year, McDonald's All-American, and Jordan Brand Classic MVP. Every major program in the country recruited him.
Cooper Flagg planned to announce his Duke commitment on October 27, 2023. He delayed three days after the Lewiston, Maine, mass shootings — 18 people killed in a bowling alley and a bar in his home state. He committed to Duke on October 30. He signed a shoe deal with New Balance because two of the company's factories are located near Newport. He became the first men's college basketball player ever sponsored by Gatorade. In the summer of 2024, he was invited to join the USA Select Team at age seventeen — a practice squad for the Olympic team — and scored up to 17 points in scrimmages against LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and Kevin Durant. KD's assessment: 'He's 17 years old playing like a veteran.'