Thomas “Skip” Chappelle is a University of Maine icon and someone who took the game of basketball to new heights in the Pine Tree State.
He can’t believe what Cooper Flagg has done to push it even further.
Chappelle is part of a tiny fraternity of Maine players who have been drafted into the NBA. The talented player from Old Town was an 11th round pick by the St. Louis Hawks in 1962, and went on to try out for the Boston Celtics during training camp. He later returned to Maine to coach in Fort Fairfield and then at his alma mater UMaine, where the basketball court is now named for him.
And what word does the legendary Maine player and coach use to describe Flagg’s ascendence to become the likely number one pick in Wednesday’s draft? Chappelle called it “unbelievable” in a Monday interview.
“He’s the greatest thing to happen to basketball in the state of Maine,” Chappelle said, stressing the national attention the Newport native has brought to the state and to the game of basketball here.
Chappelle made Maine history as the Black Bear’s first-ever Little All-American in 1961. And Flagg has repeatedly made Maine history this year during his phenomenal freshman season at Duke University, where he amassed nearly all of the national player of the year awards and dominated college basketball like no Mainer before him.
Asked about how Flagg’s top-tier skills from 2025 would have translated to the Yankee Conference that Chappelle led in scoring for three straight seasons decades ago, the Maine basketball legend had little doubt that Flagg would have been even more dominant.
“We weren’t on the Duke level back then. We were Division I and we played some heat, but we’re in kind of our own little world,” Chappelle said. “Compared to Cooper Flagg and what he’s accomplished, it’s unbelievable. Unbelievable.”
Chappelle hasn’t been able to observe Flagg’s game much besides on TV. One instance that he did get to see Flagg in person was the only game he ever lost at Nokomis Regional High School.
“I was at Brewer High School the year they won the state championship. And they had lost only one game, and that was the one I was there at,” Chappelle said. “And he was clearly the best player on the floor.”
Like so many other basketball observers, Chappelle said one of the aspects of Flagg’s game that stood out the most to him was his defensive ability.
“I think what catches your eye with him first is his ability to get across that lane and block shots, and make the move to block the shot without just knocking someone down to do it.”
Chappelle also remarked on how much the game of basketball has changed since his days on the court. He pointed to other comparisons likening basketball of the past to a ballet.
“Well, it’s not a ballet now,” Chappelle said. “Basketball is becoming very physical.”
While there was “no such thing as weight training” in Chappelle’s era, the modern game of basketball that Flagg has shined in is one that is inescapably entwined with strength and conditioning. The kind of training that was “taboo” in Chappelle’s time is now a basic necessity today.
A lot has certainly changed since Chappelle was selected in the 1962 NBA draft, including the draft itself. That draft years ago wasn’t televised, while Wednesday night’s event will be nationally broadcast on ESPN and ABC. And like so many other Mainers, Chappelle is ready to tune in as Flagg is expected to make more history.