Boogie Fland on earning Kentucky offer: "Definitely put a smile on my face"

Just seven days after helping guide Team USA to a gold medal at the U17 FIBA World Cup, Johnuel “Boogie” Fland is already back on the hardwood competing for another championship.

Fland, who was given the nickname “Boogie” at the young age of six (which we’ll talk about soon), is suiting up for the PSA Cardinals 16U squad at this week’s Nike Peach Jam event in North Augusta, SC. PSA is 2-1 through three games with one more scheduled on Wednesday before the tournament portion of the event takes over. The 6-foot-3 point guard is considered a five-star prospect and the No. 8 overall recruit in the ’24 class, per the On3 Consensus.

He also picked up an offer from the Kentucky Wildcats last week. Head coach John Calipari came calling shortly after watching Fland play in Spain earlier this month, where the rising high school junior averaged 4.6 points, 2.7 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 2.1 steals per outing for Team USA.

“It was a good one, about 30 minutes, just talking about the school, talking about him, talking about me,” Fland told KSR on Tuesday of his conversation with Calipari. “It was nothing basketball related. It was all just getting to know each other and building a relationship. But I would definitely say it was a good one. Definitely put a smile on my face.”

Calipari has been the main contact thus far for Fland, who was one of a handful of ’24 recruits who heard from the ‘Cats once the contact period opened on June 15. Fland said he’s interested in Kentucky’s winning pedigree and the track record of pumping out NBA players.

“Coach Cal is a good coach,” Fland added. “It’s an honor to even get in contact with him.”

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 6’3” Boogie Fland’24 @BoogieFland of @step_basketball & @PSACardinals has earned an offer from @UKCoachCalipari & the University of Kentucky. Fland has won 2 gold medals 🏅🥇with USA Basketball 🇺🇸.
🔵⚪️👀🔵⚪️ #BBN pic.twitter.com/imTNSveXrD

— 𝒜𝓃𝒹𝓇ℯ𝓌 𝒮𝓁𝒶𝓉ℯ𝓇 (@Andrew__Slater) July 13, 2022

When college coaches are allowed to watch recruits starting on Wednesday (at which point the dead period ends until Peach Jam is over), don’t be shocked if the Kentucky staff has eyes on Fland. He plays alongside a pair of future stars too in ’24 C Yves Missi and ’25 PG Danny Carbuccia, giving the PSA Cardinals plenty of attention through the first days in North Augusta.

Through three games at Peach Jam, Fland is averaging 11.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 2.0 steals while shooting 43.3 percent overall from the field. He’s had to re-acclimate himself to the AAU style of play after spending so much time with team USA, where ball movement is put at a premium.

“The ball out there (with Team USA) is not using many dribbles. Out here we like to get crafty and shifty,” Fland explained. “Out there it’s get into your set, dribble dribble up the court, pass, move, sets — it’s more of like structured basketball. Out here you get to freestyle a little bit.”

While he admitted that he prefers the freestyle setup more, Fland added that he is more than comfortable playing within either system. He’s a point guard — first and foremost — and understands he’ll have to continue adapting as his basketball career progresses.

“Point guard, whatever the coach needs me to do I do,” Fland described of his game. “If he needs me to score, I’ll score the ball. If he needs me to be a point guard I’ll be a point guard. I’m a rebounding guard also. I can do it all on the floor.”

Heading into his junior season at Archbishop Stepinac, Fland possesses scholarships from the likes of Kentucky, UCLA, Illinois, UConn, LSU, Georgia, Kansas, Oregon, Michigan, Indiana, and plenty of others. Along with UK, he specifically named Louisville, Kansas, and Duke as schools consistently reaching out to him right now.

So far, he’s only taken one visit: an unofficial to UConn in June. (Fland is a big fan of former Huskies guard James Bouknight, now with the Charlotte Hornets. Bouknight also played for the PSA Cardinals during his AAU days.) Fland expects to take a visit to Lexington in the future, although no date has been scheduled.

Okay, now back to the nickname of “Boogie”. Kentucky fans are familiar with that moniker when it comes to Wildcats men’s basketball. One of the program’s most famous players, DeMarcus Cousins, has been referred to as Boogie before, during, and after his time at UK.

But how did Fland find his way into the same nickname? The person he’s the closest to, of course — his mother.

“She gave me the name Boogie because they would form a circle around me and I would start dancing out of nowhere when the music came on,” Fland said. “So that’s where it came from and it stuck around. It got more popular than my real name.”