Duke Recruiting: The Flaggs And The Boozers Square Off At Peach Jam

Recruiting is always an interesting endeavor and one of the things that all recruiting junkies love is the backstory. And that’s even better when the players are highly promising.

Take Duke targets Cameron Boozer, his twin brother Cayden, and Cooper Flagg.

The Boozers, sons of Duke great Carlos Boozer, obviously start off on second or third base simply because their dad is a Duke legend and had a long and successful NBA career. Somewhat like Bronny James, but not as much as the spawn of King James, the Boozers are basketball royalty.

Then look at Flagg.

Out of Maine and with a twin brother of his own, Ace, Flagg has erupted onto the scene and has made it clear that he’s an enormously promising player.

Their backstories couldn’t be more different.

Flagg is from Newport, Maine, population 3,133. The population of the whole state is just 1,362,359 (both numbers from the 2020 census).

He had to leave Maine to find competition at a suitable level and that’s no surprise. The best player out of Maine to date is Duncan Robinson, who has been a success with the Miami Heat, but he started at a D-III school before finishing at Michigan.

Not to knock Robinson or Maine, but just quickly, North Carolina can boast David Thompson, John Lucas, Brandon Ingram, James Worthy and of course Michael Jordan. Virginia has produced Alan Iverson, David Robinson, Alonzo Mourning, JJ Redick and many others.

You could go on but the point is made: Maine is not a hot spot for basketball.

So when the two met at Peach Jam Wednesday morning, the basketball world was paying close attention.

Flagg finished with 21 points with 10 rebounds and seven assists while Boozer totaled 22 points and 12 rebounds. Flagg’s team won, which may ultimately help to flip him back to #1 in the class of 2025 (Boozer is generally seen as the top-ranked recruit).

We’d be curious to see a box score and find out how their twins did as well.