CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — Did Conte Forum become Cameron Indoor Stadium North on Saturday night, or Augusta Civic Center South? Call it either, the Cooper Flagg fans were out in force to cheer on Maine’s favorite basketball player in Duke’s closest visit to his home this season.
Among the first fans through the doors when they opened were Jessica Greene and her daughters, Kacy and Bre Daggett. Greene made the 332-mile drive from Island Falls to Conte Forum, picking up her daughters at Southern Maine Community College in South Portland. They were dressed in Duke blue and white from head to toe. Bre wore a Duke flag as a cape. Greene’s blue jacket sparkled.
“We’re big Duke fans, but we’re here for Cooper,” Greene said.
Not everyone in the arena was there to salute Flagg. This is the Eagles’ home court after all, and when Flagg came out for pregame warmups, he was soundly booed by BC students sitting behind the baseline where the Blue Devils shot. When he scored Duke’s first basket of the game, on a layup 50 seconds in though, the cheers overtook the boos.
To Landas Mansfield, Cooper Flagg must be seen live and in person to be fully appreciated.
“The way he plays, you can’t really tell on TV,” said Mansfield, a freshman on the Lawrence High boys basketball team. “He’s so aggressive. He just makes plays so effortlessly. It’s just, wow.”
Mansfield was one of the many Mainers to make the trip south to Boston College on Saturday to see Flagg and Duke take on the Eagles. It was as close as Flagg, who in a short time playing college ball has only cemented his place as the top prospect in the upcoming NBA draft, will come this season to playing near his hometown, Newport.
Dawson Townsend and Flagg have been buddies since they were kids. Their moms went to Nokomis High together. They played rec league basketball together. Townsend attended Duke’s Countdown to Craziness to kick off the season in October, then went back to Cameron Indoor Stadium for the Blue Devils season-opening win over Maine, Flagg’s collegiate debut.
Townsend wasn’t going to miss his friend’s lone New England appearance. No way.
“All the work he’s put into it is definitely paying off,” said Townsend, who texts his pal after every game.

Adam Robson of Belfast, a junior on Belfast Area High School’s basketball team, snaps a photo of Conte Stadium after arriving at the game with his family to watch Cooper Flagg play for the Duke men’s basketball team against Boston College. Derek Davis/Portland Press Herald
Townsend laughed when he thought about how the rest of the country — no, the rest of the world — is reacting to Flagg doing things he’s seen for years. A recent Flagg dunk in a game against Pittsburgh made its way around social media and SportsCenter by the time the poor Pitt player Flagg leapt over knew what happened.
With 50 seconds left in the first half, Flagg had one of those dunks, the kind that make Duke fans cheer and opponents get out of the way. It reverberated all the way to Madawaska. Flagg had another one with 14:11 left in the second half, taking a Sion James pass and slamming it home to the delight of the Duke fans in the building.
“I’ve seen him dunk all the time and I’m used to it. You expect it, but then he drops one and it’s like, wow,” Townsend said.
Maine fans love Flagg because he’s our state personified. Calm and confident. A hard worker.
“A Mainer,” Kacy Daggett said.
The chance to see Flagg play didn’t come cheap. According to Victory Live, which monitors secondary market ticket sales, the average cost for a ticket to Saturday night’s game was $268. A pair of floor seats could be had Saturday afternoon on Stub Hub for the wallet-bruising price of $832 each.

Jessica Greene of Island Falls hugs Matthew McCluskey of Portland after entering Conte Stadium to watch Cooper Flagg play for the Duke men’s basketball team against Boston College. Derek Davis/Portland Press Herald
Erica Rock of Pittsfield got her two tickets in early November for $200 apiece. A longtime Duke fan, it was a small price, she said.
Rock previously saw Flagg play in the 2022 Class A state championship game, when he and his twin brother Ace, who will join the University of Maine men’s basketball team next season, led Nokomis to the state title.
“Everything is better live, right? It’s the same as when I went to see Caitlin Clark play at Mohegan Sun,” said Rock, the school resource officer for Pittsfield schools and softball coach at Maine Central Institute. “I probably wouldn’t have bought (the tickets) if not for Flagg. As much as I wanted to see Duke play, Cooper is the driving force.”
Mansfield doesn’t hope to get pointers on his game from watching Flagg. He’s 5-9, a foot shorter than Flagg, and realistic. What Mansfield, who also saw Flagg play when he was still at Nokomis, gets from the live experience is inspiration.
“He’s made me want to put in more work,” Mansfield said. “Usually you hear ‘You’re from Maine, you can’t go anywhere.’ Then you saw him do it.”
That’s just, wow.
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