Maine fans flock to see Flagg, Duke beat BC
Jan 19, 2025, 12:07 AM ET BOSTON– Duke freshman Cooper Flagg won’t be making it to Maine, so his fans travelled to Chestnut Hill on Saturday night to see the likely No. 1 draft choice play Boston College in his only game in New England this season.Flagg had 28 points
, 5 rebounds, 4 helps, 2 takes and 2 obstructed shots to assist the No. 3 Blue Devils beat BC 88-63 for their 12th win in a row in front of the Eagles’ very first sellout crowd of the season, with a number of the fans making the trip of three or more hours just to see him.
“This was my dream growing up, my whole life. To be because position I’m in today,” Flagg said later. “So, I’m just trying to enjoy it and simply stay in the minute.”
Fans in Duke jerseys– a lot of them making the 215-mile drive from the Newport, Maine, environments– helped fill the Conte Online forum for the very first time this season. When the BC advocates filed out in the final minutes, the Dukies stuck around till the buzzer, providing Flagg– a Newport native– one last cheer when he left the court after the game.Editor’s Picks
1 Related”It’s substantial, the level of support, just to get to see them show up and support me indicates a lot to me. Simply offers me a lot of confidence,” Flagg said. “Being from Maine … when I was maturing, it’s simple to simply not believe in yourself or just think you can’t do that. I just wish to keep showing that it does not really matter where you’re from. As long as you stick to it and keep working, you can make anything happen.”
Flagg stated he matured as a Boston sports fan, rooting for the Celtics, Patriots and Red Sox since they were the closest pro teams to his home town. On Friday night, Flagg and a few of his teammates viewed the Celtics– consisting of ex-Blue Devil Jayson Tatum– beat the Magic. (Orlando’s Paolo Banchero also went to Duke.)
Duke’s only other set up trip up North is to dip into Syracuse next month (though there is a March Insanity local last in Providence, Rhode Island). Flagg said he had been hearing from a lot of individuals back home that they would be making the journey; one tv press reporter informed Flagg after Saturday’s contest he had actually interviewed fans who came from Maine’s Aroostook County, which surrounds the Canadian provinces of Quebec and New Brunswick.
“It was great for us simply to be because environment,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer stated. “What an unique turnout. Look, this is as close as we’re going to get to Maine. We have actually been here a lot. The representation of Duke fans has constantly been terrific. This was, I believe, the best I’ve ever seen it.
“And I think a great deal of it relates to Maine. So, that was a pretty unique thing to see. And obviously, [Flagg] backed it up with his play.”