Cooper Flagg opens up on support he received from Maine on road trip to Boston College

Few freshmen have the amount of success that Cooper Flagg has had this season while playing for the Duke Blue Devils. He’s done that coming from small-town Maine where it’s rare to find star basketball players.

On Saturday, Duke played a road game against Boston College. That, being the closest trip the Blue Devils play to Flagg’s home, saw a large contingent of Flagg’s friends and family show up for the game. It was the kind of support that means a ton to Flagg as he goes through his college journey.

“People coming all the way from Aroostook, which I don’t know how many hours that is,” Cooper Flagg said. “But I would say a lot,” he said. “It’s huge, the level of support. Just to be able to see them show up and support, it means a lot to me. It gives me a lot of confidence, and I’m just really blessed.”

Cooper Flagg came to Duke as a five-star recruit in the Class of 2024, according to the On3 Industry Ranking. He was the top-ranked recruit in the country that cycle and, to this point, he’s lived up to that ranking. Averaging 31.1 minutes per game, Flagg is scoring 19.2 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game. That type of talent and success is rarely seen coming from a state like Maine.

“It means a lot to me, especially being from Maine,” Flagg said. “To a lot of kids from Maine that might be in a similar situation to what I was in growing up, it’s easy to just not believe in yourself or just think you can’t do it. I just want to keep proving that it doesn’t really matter where you’re from. As long as you stick to it and keep working, you can make anything happen.”

It’s not a quick trip to get from Aroostook to Boston College. Without hitting any traffic, it’s still a six-hour drive from Northern Maine into Massachusetts. Still, this is the best chance for Flagg’s hometown fans to see him play in person this season.

“I expected [the turnout]. I heard from a lot of people leading up, all the way back to sometime last year, people talking about coming to this game,” Flagg said. “It was a huge turnout, and I’m just really grateful to have such a support system from the state of Maine.”

Next, Cooper Flagg and Duke are set to make a shorter road trip, playing Wake Forest on the road this upcoming Saturday.