Maine’s got its man.
Ace Flagg — twin brother of Cooper Flagg, Duke wunderkind and presumed No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft — has committed to the University of Maine.
It’s something of a homecoming for the Newport, Maine native.
Flagg, a three-star prospect in the 2025 recruiting class per 247Sports, picked the mid-major school over competing offers from West Virginia, Richmond, George Washington and others, per ESPN.
Ace lacks some of the natural gifts his brother was so blessed with but he also came to the game a few years later on.
Regardless, at 6-foot-8 and 180 pounds, he’s excellent around the rim and could excel as a solid stretch forward at the collegiate level.
In high school, the twins played together at the prestigious Montverde Academy in Florida — though Ace was often relegated to a supporting role given the surfeit of talent on the roster.
Last season, when that included four five-star prospects, Ace averaged 2.6 points and 1.3 rebounds per game, per MaxPreps.
Ace and Cooper were originally both members of the 2025 class but the latter re-classified in order to reach the association one year sooner than he otherwise could have.
Now with his brother off to Duke, Ace is playing out the final season of his high school career just an hour west in North Carolina’s Greensboro Day School.
Next season, Ace will be joining his mother’s alma mater. Kelly Cooper was a star at Maine and captained the Bears women’s team that won the program’s first — and only — NCAA tournament game in history, a first-round upset over Stanford in 1999.
The men’s squad at Maine has never appeared in the NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament; their 78 consecutive seasons without a postseason bid is the sixth-most all-time among eligible programs.
Last season, under second-year head coach Chris Markwood, Maine went 15-17 overall and 7-9 in conference play.
Though the family moved to Florida after Cooper and Ace completed their freshman seasons of high school ball, the Flaggs still have deep roots in The Pine Tree State.
Just this past summer, the twins returned to Orono — the city where the University of Maine is located — to host a basketball camp.
As it so happens, Cooper and the Blue Devils open their season when the Bears travel to Cameron Indoor on Nov. 4. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.