University of Maine freshman forward Ace Flagg has been named to the America East Conference’s all-rookie team, the league announced in a press release on Friday.
Newport native Flagg, 19, returned to Maine after a prolific high school career that included championships in three different states. He and twin brother Cooper Flagg won a Maine state title at Nokomis regional high school their freshman year, were national champions at Montverde Academy in Florida, and then Ace Flagg won a state title in North Carolina in his final year of high school.
Joining Flagg on the America East all-rookie team are Tyler Bike from the University of New Hampshire, David Bolden from NJIT, and Bryant players Timofei Rudovskii and Ty Tabales.
Current and former coaches have stressed Flagg’s toughness on the court, and he has brought that same brand of hard-nosed basketball to Orono for his first season as a Black Bear. Nicknamed the “Honey Badger” in a nod to the famously gritty mammal, the 6-foot-7 Flagg has played an increasingly large role down low for a UMaine team beset by injuries this season.
Flagg is averaging over six points and nearly four rebounds as a freshman, and scored a career-high 22 points against Albany last week.
He’s also been facing a heightened level of attention in Orono given the attention that has followed him and his brother for years. That has included some noticeable heckling from opposing fans, which both he and UMaine head coach Chris Markwood say Flagg is used to.
“And I think Ace — what makes him an amazing person, what makes him a really good basketball player, is he’s a tough-minded kid,” Markwood said earlier in the season.
Markwood, Flagg and the Black Bears will be in New Jersey on Saturday for an America East playoff game against NJIT. That win-or-go-home game starts at 4 p.m. in Newark.