Cooper and Ace Flagg’s Montverde Academy basketball team has held the No. 1 national ranking all year, and it showed why this weekend in Las Vegas.
Playing on national television, and in front of dozens of NBA executives, Montverde (Florida) beat No. 3 Link Academy (Missouri) 71-59 on Friday night, and then No. 9 AZ Compass Prep (Arizona) 58-46 on Saturday afternoon.
The two-game slate was part of the inaugural Nike Elite Youth Basketball League Scholastic Showcase, featuring five hand-picked teams from the EYBL circuit.
With the victories, Montverde has improved to a perfect 9-0, and has now beaten the No. 3, No. 4 (Columbus), No. 6 (IMG Academy), No. 8 (Wasatch Academy), and No. 9 teams in the country by an average of 20.8 points — cementing itself as the nation’s No. 1 team, with the nation’s No. 1 player.
“The main attraction was undoubtedly Montverde’s Cooper Flagg, the 6-foot-9 wing from Maine and Duke commit who’s the No. 1 NBA prospect in his class,” Bleacher Report’s Andy Bailey wrote on Saturday. “After four quarters, it was easy to understand the hype.”
Among the NBA legends and executives in attendance were Shaquille O’Neal, Kevin Garnett, Jazz general manager Danny Ainge, Celtics assistant general manager Austin Ainge and Los Angeles Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka.
Graciously sharing the ball with three other five-star recruits in Montverde uniforms, Cooper poured in 15 points and snagged nine boards on Friday, then tallied 12 points, five rebounds and three blocks on Saturday.
“Flagg can get up. And he can get up in a hurry,” Bailey said. “There’s no doubt, even in this somewhat unrefined form, that Flagg’s physical tools are NBA level.”
So far this season, Cooper is the Eagles’ second-best scorer (14.0 ppg), second-best rebounder (7.3 rpg), second-best assist man (5.3 apg), top ball-stealer (2.0 spg) and top shot blocker (1.7 bpg).
