DURHAM, N.C. – Cooper Flagg felt nerves and excitement ahead of his highly anticipated regular-season debut for No. 7 Duke in its famed Cameron Indoor Stadium. Coming out of the tunnel to see the opponent wearing the jersey of his home-state program — one with long ties to his family — added a little extra feeling.
The nation's No. 1-ranked recruit and preseason Associated Press All-American had 18 points, seven rebounds, five assists and one flashy dunk to help the Blue Devils beat Maine 96-62 on Monday night.
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It came against a program where his mother played basketball, where the Newport, Maine, native went to games while he was growing up about 30 minutes away from the campus. And where his brother Ace — who was sitting behind the Black Bears bench while their parents sat behind the Duke sideline — will play next year.
“I think even for me, it was a little more emotional walking out seeing the Maine across their chest,” Cooper Flagg said. “Obviously, that’s a team that I grew up watching when I was young. Seeing them gave me a lot more emotions and knowing it was the first real game. It was definitely a high-emotion game for me, but I was able to just take it in stride and handle business.”
The 6-foot-9 forward didn’t have a hot-shooting start to a career that is all but certain to be a single-year stopover on the way to the NBA as a possible No. 1 overall pick. But he turned in an all-around floor game that had him making plays on the glass, as a facilitator and bringing the ball up in transition all the same.
He made 6 of 15 shots in his roughly 30 minutes of work, making all six of his free throws but missing all four of his 3-point shots — including a couple in the first half that either rolled or rattled out. But he also glided across the court to make his presence felt within the flow of the game, including a pair of waved-off finishes after the whistle that would have counted as and-1s with continuation rules at the next level.
“I thought he was close to having 25 tonight honestly, with some of those finishes, a couple of open shots," said Duke coach Jon Scheyer, who outdueled two-time reigning national champion UConn to land Flagg. "That’s going to fall. I think the thing that’s exiting for me watching him is just how he makes everybody better and how he plays every possession.”
Indeed, beyond the assists that came either with high-low entries to 7-foot-2 freshman Khaman Maluach or by skipping the ball across the defense, Flagg also drew eight of Maine's 19 team fouls on the night as a matchup problem for the America East program. He also showed plenty of zip, at one point diving on the floor for a steal after knocking the ball loose near halfcourt — with Duke up 29 points with about four minutes left.
“He just goes out and has fun and plays basketball,” junior point guard Tyrese Proctor said. “He doesn't overcomplicate his game. He just makes the right play and it's really fun to play with.”
Flagg's first college points came on free throws, his first field goal on a stickback with 6:25 before halftime. And yes, there was an impressive move that the “Cameron Crazies” — and anyone else ready to dissect Flagg's every move — were ready to see when Flagg dribbled around defender Quion Burns, curled into the paint and took off from just outside the charge circle to throw down a full-extension dunk with his right hand.
Flagg's night ended abruptly when he landed awkwardly in traffic on the baseline and stayed down with 3:28 left due to cramps, with trainer Jose Fonseca coming over to briefly work on his left leg. But Flagg soon hobbled back to the bench to watch the final minutes while chugging from a Gatorade water battle.
Afterward, Scheyer said he was glad to hear that Flagg could “admit and say he was emotional” about playing against Maine with all the ties to the program. And to listen to Black Bears coach Chris Markwood, the feeling was mutual in being on hand for the next step of Flagg's “storybook” journey from small-town Maine to one of college basketball's famed arenas.
“I think we're a little bit in awe because you just don't see it happen a lot in the state of Maine," Markwood said. "He's got a whole state behind him. Everybody is just cheering him along and can't wait to watch everything he does.”
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