SPRINGFIELD – A capacity crowd filled in shoulder-to-shoulder on the wooden bleachers inside Springfield College’s Blake Arena, about 2,000 fans, young and old, divided evenly along each side of the court to see the nation’s No. 1 recruit, Cooper Flagg, in the Hoophall Classic.
Kids, standing at the end of the bleachers where Flagg and his Montverde Academy team waited for their cue to make an entrance, tested the strength of the black metal rails as they peered over to capture whatever glimpse they could of the star prospect and his team. Swells grew in the corners as eager spectators walked slowly, with half their attention locked on the 6-foot-9 phenom who’d taken to the court with a high-flying dunk exhibition, finding any bit of space to squeeze into.
The size of the crowd could be likened to the flock that filled the same building for Mikey Williams, a former internet sensation and the first high school athlete to sign a shoe deal, in the 2022 event. The only time it’s been bigger, at least in the last few years, was when Bronny James, son of LeBron, and his Sierra Canyon team played against Alex Antetokounmpo, brother of Giannis, in 2020.
These scenes are what Flagg has gotten used to.
“This is the type of atmosphere that I love the most,” he said after the game. “I feel like I kind of thrive in these type of moments, these environments. I really just soak it all in and have fun in the moment.”
The scene in Blake Arena before Montverde-Oak Hill tonight, lots of cameras in place for Cooper Flagg’s intro. pic.twitter.com/C0vDwF0Qmf
— Joe Arruda (@joearruda9) January 13, 2024
Just a week ago, Montverde played two games before a capacity crowd of about 6,000 in Flagg’s home state of Maine. Tickets for the homecoming event sold out within 12 hours, according to the Bangor Daily News.
“If I was a presidential candidate I would try to get his endorsement in Maine,” legendary Montverde head coach Kevin Boyle quipped.
The national basketball powerhouse continued its New England tour with what has become an annual stop at the Hoophall Classic, put on by the Basketball Hall of Fame. The prime-time game on Friday night against Oak Hill Academy was the first of three at the event.
It was only about a minute in before Flagg was above the rim flushing home a putback dunk, gesturing to raise the roof as the crowd exploded. He dunked three more times in the first half and made two of his three 3-point attempts, all while owning the area below the basket where he repeatedly flew in to grab offensive rebounds.
By halftime, the dominant forward had a game-high 20 points and missed only three shots. He also had six rebounds, all on the offensive end, three blocks, two assists and two steals with his team up 34-24.
He took a much different approach to the third quarter, only attempting two shots and, instead, dished four more assists, grabbed three defensive rebounds and blocked another pair of shots before grabbing a cup of water on the bench. In the fourth quarter he made his third 3-pointer of the game from the wing to a collective “whoosh” from the crowd before taking a seat for the final four minutes, his team up 70-42.
A decent chunk of the crowd, sensing Flagg’s night was done, made its way for the exits.
He finished with 25 points, nine rebounds, seven assists, five blocks and two steals in 26 minutes.
Montverde, ranked No. 1 in the country, improved to 16-0 on the year. Flagg and the Eagles will play Brewster Academy on Saturday and Prolific Prep on Sunday, all at Blake Arena.
After a recruitment that drew the eye of the entire basketball world, Flagg ultimately chose to play at Duke, his dream school. He announced the decision in late October, wanting to get it out of the way before the season began. UConn made a strong push, hosting him on campus in late September, and finished second in what ended up being a two-school race.
“He grew up really as a Duke fan, so that was hard, I think UConn did a really good job and got really close, got really in his mind,” Boyle said. “I think he really liked the UConn staff and with winning the championship, that helped, and they worked real hard with him. He was 100% Duke and he started getting on the fence. If it was the old days and he waited until the end of the year who knows what would’ve happened.”
Flagg declined to comment on how close his decision ended up being.
Boyle, who’s coached dozens of NBA stars, from Kyrie Irving to Joel Embiid and more recently Cade Cunningham and Scottie Barnes, didn’t know where Flagg would end up deciding to go after UConn made its push.
“I kind of thought, usually your first choice is your right choice and your comfortable choice,” he said. “But you can’t go wrong in either place. There’s some guys that have to go to the right school to excel, he can go to any school and excel. Some guys, you can be in the wrong system and it can really change your projection and what round you get picked in and that kind of stuff, so.”
Multiple mock drafts have Flagg going No. 1 overall in 2025. And his performance Friday night certainly didn’t change that.
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No. 1 overall recruit, former UConn target Cooper Flagg puts on show in front of capacity crowd at Hoophall Classic - Hartford Courant
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