Duke freshman Cooper Flagg dunks during the second half of an Oct. 27 exhibition game against Arizona State in Durham, N.C. Flagg and the Blue Devils will host Maine in a regular-season opener on Monday. Ben McKeown/Associated Press

It started on courts in Newport, and in gyms on travel basketball circuits. It continued to Nokomis Regional High, swung down to central Florida, and has taken him to spots around the globe.

And now Cooper Flagg’s remarkable journey makes its highest profile stop, under some of the brightest lights and on one of the biggest stages that can be found in the sport.

The 6-foot-9 Flagg makes his official college debut Monday when the Newport native and the Duke men’s basketball team host the University of Maine in Durham, North Carolina, in the regular-season opener for both teams.

In some ways, it’s just another chapter in a story that’s already known by avid basketball fans. Flagg, 17, has thrived against the highest competition available to him. He was the best player at Montverde Academy, the top high school program in the country. He turned heads in two experiences with Team USA Basketball. He was the top college recruit in America. He’s the anticipated No. 1 pick in next year’s NBA draft. And it’s estimated that he could earn over $1 million this season in endorsements from partnerships with Gatorade, New Balance and New Era.

But in other ways, it’s different. This is Duke, one of the most celebrated, prestigious and fervently followed college basketball programs in the country. March Madness is an annual rite for the Blue Devils. Rivalry games in front of packed crowds await. Televised games and national broadcasts await.

“It’s a totally different environment than the one he was in. It’s a different world,” said Seth Greenberg, a former coach at Long Beach State, South Florida and Virginia Tech who is now an analyst for ESPN. “(Duke games) aren’t games, they’re events. They’re not only on ESPNU, they’re on ESPN and ABC, CBS. … Playing at Duke, every single game is going to be documented. Every single move is going to be documented.”

Duke did not make Flagg available to speak about his college debut. But the state that’s come to revere him, and the people who’ve known him best, can’t wait to watch him closer and more often than they have since his fame took off.

“I will admit, sometimes when I take a step back and look at it, it’s overwhelmingly, ‘Is this really happening?'” said Andy Bedard, Flagg’s AAU coach for Maine United and a former Mountain Valley High basketball standout who played at Boston College and UMaine. “Is this the next 20 years of my life, where I get to watch basically a son of mine go through this journey?”

Duke freshman Cooper Flagg high-fives fans after an Oct. 19 exhibition game against Lincoln in Durham, N.C. Flagg and the Blue Devils will host Maine in a regular-season opener on Monday. Ben McKeown/Associated Press

Bedard knows he’s not alone.

“I think everybody has their Duke calendar out, everybody’s circling the dates, the times and then the network that he’s playing on,” he said. “I know there are going to be a lot of people happy that they don’t have to buy internet subscriptions (to watch him). … Now you can just turn on the TV. I think it’s going to allow everybody to be more connected to him and really follow him.

“It’s a long, cold winter up in Maine. I think this is going to give a lot of people things to look forward to during the week when he comes on, and give them something to get behind and be really proud of.”

It’s already begun. For Duke’s opener, Jim Kachmar, a 1994 UMaine alum and the former president of the Alumni Association’s Southern Maine chapter, arranged for a pregame gathering of university alumni who are planning on going to the game at Devil’s Krafthouse on Duke’s campus. As of Thursday evening, 48 alums had signed up to attend.

“This is the big time,” Kachmar said. “We’ve seen him on the national stage, but this is the real deal. You don’t get any better than this. Duke, Cameron Indoor Stadium, it’s just amazing. And we’re really excited to see him play for the first time and be a part of history.”

The alums will root for the Maine team – and they’ll root for the Maine native as well.

“We’re all going to remember we were there. It’s going to be a moment, almost like ‘Where were you when?'” Kachmar said. “It’s so exciting to have the opening game versus Maine. … It’s almost too good to be true.”

A UNIQUE TALENT

Flagg, who began drawing attention as a middle schooler, became a nationally prized recruit while leading Nokomis to the 2022 Class A championship as a freshman, and shot up the prospect rankings while starring at Montverde Academy, a prep power that has produced waves of college and NBA talent.

Now that he’s at Duke, the raves are still coming in from those who know the sport the best.

“He’s one of the unique talents to come along over the years,” said Jay Bilas, a former Duke player who’s now in his 30th year as a college basketball analyst with ESPN. “There have been other great players, whether it’s Kevin Durant or, you name it, Derrick Rose. We’ve had some great ones, and he’s in that mix.

“With his size, his skill level, athleticism and his competitive nature, there aren’t many like him. … He plays with an edge. He’s very confident, but not cocky. He impacts the game in a lot of different ways, which not everybody does. … When you keep in mind that he’s a freshman who hasn’t even turned 18 yet, then you’re ultra-impressed by that. That’s not the norm. He gets it at this age.”

Duke freshman Cooper Flagg reacts after dunking the ball during an Oct. 19 game against Lincoln in Durham, N.C. Ben McKeown/Associated Press

Bedard said how Flagg handles his emotions will be telling.

“He’s going to see some hostile crowds. It’s no secret that there are a lot of people that don’t like Duke,” he said. “He’s going to be criticized on everything that he does. He just needs to keep his circle tight, trust his family, his coaches and his teammates, and just keep his emotions in check and play the next play. And I haven’t seen him vary from that in a long time.”

Sophie Levenson was in the student section at Duke’s Cameron Indoor Stadium when Flagg arrived to see a game during his recruitment last year. She still remembers the reaction from Blue Devils fans when he walked into the building.

“Everyone went crazy,” she said. “There was a chant … ‘Cooper Flagg, sit with us!’ And he came into the student section … and everyone was taking pictures with him, people were so excited he was in Cameron.”

Nearly a year later, that excitement is still there. Even at a school that has seen NBA All-Stars and Hall of Famers pass through, there’s a buzz surrounding Flagg’s arrival that feels unique.

“It’s crazy. If there’s anyone on campus that doesn’t know anything about basketball, they know the name Cooper Flagg,” said Levenson, the sports managing editor at The Chronicle, Duke’s student newspaper. “It sort of feels like we’re the hub of this national phenomenon, which is really what he is.”

Levenson said she has seen Flagg jerseys popping up around Durham, and that tenting in Krzyzewskiville – the tradition in which students camp out for long periods in hopes of gaining tickets to big games – will likely be extra competitive with a chance to see the celebrated recruit in action.

Duke freshman Cooper Flagg handles the ball against Lincoln in Durham, N.C. Ben McKeown/Associated Press

“It’s fun, because we’re looking at this new guy coming in and potentially being one of the best players Duke has had,” she said. “He’s not really comparable to a lot of Duke players, as far as we know. People are excited to be able to be like, ‘Yeah, I was there when Cooper Flagg was there.’ ”

Levenson covered Duke’s preseason game with Arizona State, and said she didn’t see Flagg in the locker room afterward – he was hidden behind a crowd of reporters several rows thick.

“Everyone in the world right now wants to cover Cooper,” she said. “He’s definitely a celebrity, for sure, which must be weird when you’re 17 and a freshman.”

CHILDHOOD FRIENDS

Alex Grant still has a picture on his phone of himself as a child with a 6- or 7-year-old Cooper Flagg, climbing into the van to take a trip to Sawyer’s Dairy Bar in Newport for Tuesday night ice cream.

Now a freshman at the University of Southern Maine, when Grant sees Flagg throwing down dunks or swatting away shots on ESPN, he doesn’t see the heralded basketball player, the generational prospect, or the big prize of the NBA draft.

“It’s weird, because everyone who grew up with him just kind of thinks of him as ‘Cooper Flagg, the kid from Newport,'” Grant said. “He’s just one of the guys that we grew up with.”

Friends and former Nokomis teammates acknowledge it’s been difficult to comprehend seeing Flagg turn into one of the biggest names in sports.

Dawson Townsend, a senior at Nokomis, is a close friend of Flagg’s who played alongside him as freshmen on the 2021-22 championship team. The two regularly call and text. Townsend still can’t believe the player who three years ago was competing in gyms in Brewer, Skowhegan and Farmington is now college basketball’s hottest star.

“It’s extremely surreal,” said Townsend, who will be at the game Monday. “It hasn’t really set in fully. I think it will. It’s been a crazy ride. … He’s one of the most popular people on the planet right now, really.”

Townsend and Grant, along with friend Ethan Cote, all have mothers who went to Nokomis with Flagg’s mother, Kelly (Bowman) Flagg, and the four, along with Cooper’s twin brother, Ace, and older brother, Hunter, were tight growing up, calling their group “The Village.” They had basketball in common, but also fishing, golf, swimming, video games and riding bikes around town.

When they see or talk to Flagg, even as his fame takes another step forward, it’s the same kid from those hangouts.

“It just hasn’t clicked in for me. I’ve never looked at him like ‘Oh, there’s Cooper Flagg, the basketball player.’ I always look at him as my friend forever, that’s my friend for life,” Townsend said. “The way he acts makes that very easy. We just act like we’re friends, like nothing’s changed, which is awesome. I’m glad it’s been that way.”

Like the rest of the state, they’ll make sure they’re along for the ride as Flagg’s story enters its next chapter.

“It’ll be a nightly or a weekly thing when he’s on. I’ll be like ‘All right, I’m watching this game, don’t talk (to me) for two hours,'” Grant said. “It’s definitely cool. And the stage only gets bigger as his journey grows. I think this is a monumental step for him, and he’s really going in the right direction.”