For anyone who’s been impressed by the rejuvenation of the University of Maine men’s basketball team this season, you’re not alone.
Ace Flagg has been enjoying the success, too.
Flagg, a highly anticipated recruit and Newport native who committed last fall to play at UMaine, is excited to be part of the momentum that coach Chris Markwood and the Black Bears are already building.
“I’ve tuned into every game I can and it’s amazing to see what Coach Markwood has done with the team,” Flagg told the Bangor Daily News on March 8, right before his future team embarked on a spirited run in the America East tournament. “It makes me even more excited to get there and contribute to success in any way I can.”
That was before the UMaine men had their best playoff showing in more than 20 years. The excitement around the program has only grown in the past week, and is likely to stay sky-high as Flagg prepares to bring his game back to his home state.
“A large factor of my decision was a love for the state of Maine as a whole. Being able to play and represent the state I love is extremely special to me,” Flagg said. “I am excited to be able to play for Coach Markwood, with the culture he’s created at Maine. It is an amazing opportunity.”
And Markwood, who took Maine to the America East Conference championship game in just his third year in charge, is excited to have Flagg joining his team as well.
“We love who he is as a person. We love his intangibles,” Markwood said in late January after traveling to watch Flagg play with his Greensboro Day high school team in North Carolina. “He’s tough, he’s hard-nosed, he’s got great IQ. And we’re excited to see his development here in our program. We just think he fits us and what we’re about. And excited to see how he gets in here and continues to help this program grow.”
Skilled in his own way
Flagg is a rare type of player, and not just because of his versatility on the court. In February, he accomplished a feat that may very well be unprecedented: winning high school championships in three different states.
As freshmen, Flagg and his twin brother Cooper helped lead Nokomis Regional High School to a Maine state title. Then their Montverde Academy team in Florida won a Chipotle Nationals title. And for his high school finale, Ace Flagg transferred to Greensboro Day and recently helped that third school win a championship. Cooper Flagg reclassified, skipping a year of high school, and is now in his freshman year at Duke University. He’s expected to be the first pick in the NBA draft in June.
Markwood had already seen Ace Flagg play “a ton” before going down to North Carolina earlier this year. But the young forward continued to impress.
“He did some good things, especially in terms of facilitating,” Markwood said about that January performance from Flagg. “He made some really great passes, which is one of the traits and skills that we’ve always loved about him. He’s got great feel, he’s a really good facilitator and passer from the wing/forward spot.”
Markwood called Flagg “really skilled in his own unique way” and said the Black Bears will figure out how to use him once he arrives in Orono. Both Markwood and Matt MacKenzie, the Flaggs’ longtime player development coach from Maine, spoke about the evolution of Flagg’s game from a strictly down-low player whose arsenal is now loaded with perimeter and ball-handling skills.
“Ace started playing basketball a little bit later on than his brother did back when they were young,” MacKenzie said. “So when Ace got plugged into the mix, you know, he was filling a role as a true back-to-the-basket center, somebody who could come into these games and rebound and defend the big position and finish under the basket.”
As of early February, MacKenzie said Flagg is somewhere between 6-foot-7 and 6-foot-8.
Flagg’s game has evolved as he has played with and against some of the best high school players in the country, and spent long hours developing his game and working to better understand different positions on the court, MacKenzie said.
Markwood, who has made defense a focal point at UMaine, thinks Flagg has “a knack for that end of the floor.” He also emphasized how Flagg has developed his outside game while maintaining the inside skills he displayed early in his high school career.
“Getting in the gym constantly and working on things outside of my comfort zone have drastically helped me grow as a player,” Flagg said. “I think to really understand the right way to play the game, you need to play against elite players. Practicing at Montverde for two years against the best players in the country helped me improve my game.”
Flagg said he is “absolutely” comfortable playing several different roles depending on what his team needs.
“A big focus for me has been growing my game to be able to play whatever role I need too,” he said.
Markwood said he isn’t going to put “any crazy expectations” on Flagg when he starts his first season at UMaine.
“I don’t know what it’s going to look like right when he gets here as an 18-year-old freshman, but we’re excited about where it can go,” Markwood said. “If he’s able to help us right away, we’re excited about that. If it takes some time like most freshmen, that’s fine, too. Everybody’s on their own journey.”
The ‘perfect fit’
MacKenzie has been working with Flagg for years, and his Eastern Maine Sports Academy facility in Veazie is only a town away from the UMaine campus. He sees Markwood’s program as exactly the right place for Flagg to continue developing his game.
“I think Coach Markwood and his staff are just an absolutely perfect fit for Ace. They hold their players accountable, but they have a really good way of doing it,” MacKenzie said. “And they’re highly respected by all of their players and personnel involved in their program.”
MacKenzie called Markwood “incredibly detailed in his approach” and said the coach and his staff have a “really good way of pushing their athletes and finding the right things that make them tick, on and off the court.”
Markwood knows that people are excited Flagg is coming home to Maine, and that there will be plenty of hype outside of the locker room.
“For us, we’re just excited to have him part of our family,” Markwood said. “We’re excited about what he brings to the table for our team.”
And Markwood expects those abilities to continue growing over time.
“Everybody talks about Cooper only just turning 18. Ace is the same way. He’s still young, and I think his best basketball is ahead of him,” he said.
MacKenzie made a similar point when asked about the Flaggs’ age and continued development.
“We have to continue to consider and understand that as advanced as the Flagg boys are in their basketball development, they are still only 18 years old and they have a long way to go, and they’re going to continue to develop over the next several years,” MacKenzie said.
Along with an expanding set of skills on the court, MacKenzie stressed that Ace Flagg brings a “great personality” as well. Markwood sees the same strength, calling Flagg a “tremendous young man” who he expects to be an “elite locker room guy.”
Asked about those comments from his future coach, Flagg provided some insight into his approach as a teammate.
“When I’m on any team, I feel that my teammates are brothers to me,” he said. “I’ve always tried to bring that mentality with me to any locker room I am in.”
That’s an approach that has earned Flagg respect at each stop along the way in his high school career, MacKenzie said.
“The way that he carries himself day in and day out, and his approach to his work, is something that his teammates and his coaches have a lot of respect for,” MacKenzie said.
It’s also likely to fit well in the team culture that Markwood has been building these past few years, which he has centered around hard work and character.
Return to Maine
Ace and Cooper Flagg are no strangers to the hype. And when Ace Flagg arrives on campus this year, there is little doubt that he’ll receive a level of attention well beyond what typically greets a UMaine freshman.
“Both Flagg boys have done an incredibly good job drowning out the noise and just focusing on improving their own game,” MacKenzie said.
Markwood expects some added attention for him and his team to manage next season.
“I’m a Mainer, so I understand the hype that’s going to come with him being here,” Markwood said, noting that Flagg has a “great head on his shoulders” along with a great support system from his family and other people like MacKenzie.
Flagg didn’t have to come home to Maine. He chose UMaine among a slate of multiple scholarship offers. MacKenzie said that Flagg wanted to play somewhere that he felt connected to.
“And it means a lot for Ace to represent his home state,” MacKenzie said. “He has an incredible amount of pride in the state of Maine.”
This year’s UMaine men’s team already had people brimming with pride after a respectable run to the America East Conference championship game. Ace Flagg was watching this team with amazement, and pretty soon he’ll be getting to work as part of the next one.
Plenty of Black Bear fans are certainly loving his decision already. And with his choice, Flagg is also making a statement about the future of Maine basketball.
“He’s a really talented player that decided to come back home,” Markwood said. “And I think he’s doing that because he sees the direction of the program, as well as wanting to be back home, and putting Maine on the map, I think, is a big challenge to him.”
MacKenzie thinks Flagg is ready for the challenge of this next step, and the pressure that comes with it. And Flagg is clearly ready to come home to Maine.
“I’ve always said Maine is my favorite place. The love and support from the entire Maine community has been amazing throughout my journey,” Flagg said. “So, being able to come home where I know I’ll be loved was definitely a factor in making my decision.”