One Last Pitch For Cooper Flagg To Maine

Cooper Flagg canceled his official visit to Kansas yesterday, leaving Duke and UConn as the last two teams standing for the nation’s top-ranked recruit.

Before Cooper makes a decision, we’d love to pitch him one last time on staying home and playing for Maine.

When’s the Maine visit, Trilly? https://t.co/pFTHO3ob40

— Mid-Major Madness (@mid_madness) October 3, 2023

Cooper Flagg is already the most famous person from his hometown of Newport, M.E. He earned that title quickly, taking over the mantle from Lewis O. Barrows, who served as Governor for the state from 1937-1941. The Flagg family has lived there for generations and they have deep ties to the basketball community. His mom played for the state school and his dad played at a nearby community college.

Cooper and his brother Ace have already set a precedent for staying home. They could’ve played for any AAU team in the country, but they decided to stick around and play for Maine United. That Maine United team went on an unprecedented run and finished second in the Nike EYBL Peach Jam this summer – you may have seen the highlights.

The Case For Maine

So why would Cooper Flagg want to stay home and play for Maine? Let’s break it down.

The Money Isn’t An Issue

Flagg is arguably one of the top-five most marketed players in college basketball and he hasn’t even played a game yet. He’ll likely make more money off the court during his playing career and the NIL offers have already started rolling in. If money was an issue, he would’ve picked Kansas. That is not the case.

Every game will be televised on ESPN and the school has an 8,000 seat arena to play in. The economic impact for the state would be so enormous that Darren Rovell would have a field day tweeting about it every night. Flagg would turn Maine into the basketball capital of the world for six months and the city of Orono would reap the benefits for decades after he’s gone.

The Talent Will Come With Him

After a commitment to Maine, he could recruit some of his very talented friends to come play with him for one season. With the new transfer portal rules, there is literally no risk for anyone that wants to join him. Play with the Flagg family for one year and be part of the greatest story in college basketball history. When it’s over, transfer with no repercussions. It’s fool-proof and you’d be surprised how many kids would jump at that opportunity.

The University of Maine is one of 35 eligible schools to never make the NCAA tournament. They’re fifth all-time in the number of seasons played without a bid and they’ve been one game short of the dance four times. Maine head coach Chris Markwood is also from the state. He’s a Black Bear alum and jumped at the chance to lead his alma mater. In his first season, the team won 13 games, most since 2011. The guy can coach!

The NBA Will Be There

Finally, the NBA will be there no matter what. There is precedent for people born in Maine to make the league (cc: Duncan Robinson and Jeff Turner). Flagg is as much of a lock to be a lottery pick as you’ll ever find. Maine could schedule a gauntlet of high major teams in the non-conference for him to prove himself against. Then, he’ll put up video game numbers in the America East. As Steph Curry, Damian Lillard and many other have shown, it doesn’t matter where you go to school – the Association will find you.

Taking Maine to the NCAA tournament would be the stuff of legends. The hometown hero leading his team to victory is always a great story, but in this case it’s magnified by a million. Cooper Flagg has an opportunity to write one of the greatest sports stories of our generation. We think he should pick up the pen.

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