Nokomis Regional High School freshman basketball standout Cooper Flagg is one of 48 athletes who will participate in a USA Basketball Men’s Junior National Team minicamp April 1-3 in New Orleans in conjunction with the NCAA Division I Final Four.
Minicamp participants and coaches were selected by the USA Basketball Men’s Developmental National Team Committee and will represent the high school graduating classes of 2023, 2024 and 2025. In addition to on-court drills and scrimmages, the athletes and their parents will participate in a series of educational programs from USA Basketball and the NCAA.
The minicamp includes participating in the NCAA Next Generation Sunday on April 3. As part of that experience, members of the classes of 2024 and 2025 — Flagg of Newport is nationally ranked in the Class of 2025 — will conduct an intrasquad scrimmage at the Ochsner Sports Performance Center, home of the NBA’s New Orleans Pelicans.
Minicamp participants also will attend Saturday night’s national semifinal games at the Caesars Superdome.
Flagg, a 6-foot-7-inch forward, led Nokomis to a 21-1 record and the first Class A boys basketball championship in school history. He averaged 20.5 points, 10 rebounds, 6.2 assists, 3.7 steals and 3.7 blocked shots while playing an average of 26 minutes per game. He shot 62 percent from the field and 67 percent from the free-throw line.
Flagg capped off the season with game-high totals of 22 points and 16 rebounds as coach Earl Anderson’s Nokomis club defeated Falmouth 43-27 in the Class A state championship game — the Warriors’ 20th consecutive victory.
He was named the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference Class A player of the year and on Wednesday became the first freshman to be named Gatorade Player of the Year for boys or girls basketball in state history.
Flagg will be joined among Class of 2025 players at the minicamp by Cameron Boozer (Christopher Columbus H.S./Miami), Cayden Boozer (Christopher Columbus H.S./Miami), Jeremiah Green (Guyer H.S./Lantana, Texas), Elzie “Darrell” Harrington (St. John Bosco H.S./Long Beach, California), Isiah Harwell (Century H.S./Pocatello, Idaho), Koa Peat (Perry H.S./Atlanta), Darryn Peterson (Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy/Chandler, Arizona) and Bryson Tiller (Pace Academy/Canton, Ohio).
Cameron and Cayden Boozer are the twin sons of former Duke University and 13-year NBA player Carlos Boozer.