Two hundred and fifty young basketball players and their parents filed into Memorial Gymnasium at the University of Maine in Orono on Saturday morning with one thing on their minds.
A chance to meet Cooper Flagg personally.
He and twin brother Ace announced their youth basketball ‘ProCamp’ on July 9, giving kids in grades 1-6 an opportunity to do everyday drills alongside the nation’s top prospect. Similar to his showcase in Portland in January — dubbed the Maine Event — the camp sold out within 48 hours.
Media was not permitted to enter on Saturday morning, so the Bangor Daily News interviewed campers waiting in line to sign in.
From Brewer to Levant to Mount Desert Island to New York, the wide-eyed youngsters donned Duke apparel and clutched Cooper Flagg posters, hoping that the 17-year-old sensation might bestow some basketball knowledge or even an autograph.
“I just want to meet him and improve and get better,” fifth grader Oliver Gariepy of Bar Harbor said. “[Cooper and Ace] always have amazing passing, and there’s nobody mainly taking up the ball. If he’s from Maine, and I’m also from Maine, I have a feeling I can maybe do it too.”
Gariepy wore a brand new Cooper Flagg Duke jersey that his grandmother got him this past weekend, with the goal of having it signed by the end of the day.
Flagg’s influence on the next generation of hoopers goes beyond the borders of his home state. Also waiting outside the doors to The Pit were Long Island natives Harrison and Theo Goldgrab, who made the drive up to Orono with their dad Steven last night.
The Goldgrab brothers met Cooper in New York at a basketball event where Montverde Academy happened to be practicing, and were inspired by Flagg’s willingness to take a photo with them.
“I had a game right next to his practice, and we got a picture. We came here to try to get it signed,” Harrison said. “My brother was first obsessed with him, and then I started following his high school class and now I know a lot.”
Harrison was able to rattle off the names of Flagg’s fellow freshman teammates at Duke, like Khaman Maluach from South Sudan, Darren Harris from Virginia and Isaiah Evans from North Carolina. He said he was looking forward to watching the Blue Devils’ “god squad” this upcoming season.
Three hours later, the campers emerged from the fieldhouse with grins on their faces, camp shirts on their backs and little anecdotes to share.
“It was cool. He dunked like 17 thousand times,” fifth-grader Madi Chasse of Brewer said. “After the scrimmages, our team took a picture with Cooper all huddled with each other.”
Chasse first saw Cooper play three years ago at a high school game between Nokomis and her hometown Witches. She remarked how much taller and stronger he was on Saturday.
Kai Baker of Rumford was also taken aback by Cooper’s athleticism.
“He showed off his dunking ability — a windmill,” Baker said. “It was amazing.”