Ace Flagg makes a pass to his twin brother Cooper Flagg at the Cooper and Ace Flagg Basketball ProCamp on Saturday in Orono. Ace is preparing for his first season at the University of Maine. (Anna Chadwick/Staff Photographer)

ORONO — Ace Flagg is home.

After a year at Greensboro Day School in North Carolina, and two years before that at Montverde Academy in Florida, Flagg’s gym at the University of Maine is just a short half hour drive from his hometown of Newport. Flagg draws strength from that.

“This is our home, where we come from. Maine’s a very special place. It’s very tight knit. There’s not many places like it, where you can move across the country and still have that support behind you,” Ace said Saturday afternoon.

Ace was all over the University of Maine’s New Balance Field House on Saturday, interacting with the hundreds of children taking part in the basketball camp that bears the names of Ace and his twin brother, Cooper, who you’ll recall, was the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft in June, after his one season at Duke.

Down a short hallway from the field house is the entrance to the Pit, UMaine’s Memorial Gym, where in a few months Ace will wear the Maine across his chest as a member of the Black Bears men’s basketball team. His parents, Ralph and Kelly Flagg, herself an alumni of Maine’s women’s basketball team, are thrilled about his college decision.

“It’s exciting for us to spend more time back in Maine and get to see our family and friends more often,” Kelly said.

Throughout her son’s recruiting process, Kelly didn’t hum a few bars of the “Maine Stein Song” whenever he entered the room. Ralph didn’t leave Bananas the Bear bobbleheads around the house. They tried to let Ace make the decision — the biggest decision in the lives of many 18-year old, whether athletics is in the equation or not — organically.

“As far recruiting went for both Ace and Cooper and their processes, I tried to let them figure it out and make the choice that was right for them and the best fit,” Kelly said, as Ace and Cooper visited with campers across the field house, blending in as much as guys 6-foot-7 can blend in. “I obviously felt that this was going to be a good fit for Ace. He came to that conclusion on his own. He figured it out, and we were thrilled when he made that decision.”

Ace Flagg blocks a shot of a camp attendee during the Cooper and Ace Flagg Basketball ProCamp on Saturday in Orono. (Anna Chadwick/Staff Photographer)

In Maine, Ace Flagg joins a team with more excitement and buzz around it than its had in years. The team showed steady improvement in each of coach Chris Markwood’s first three seasons. Last season, the Black Bears won 20 games and won an America East tournament game for the first time in 21 years. Advancing to the conference championship game, where the season ended in a Saturday morning loss to Bryant, wasn’t just a step forward for the program. It was a quantum leap.

Ace Flagg is a big piece in the program’s next phase of development. One very partial observer with close ties to the NBA is excited to see what Ace’s immediate future holds.

“I’m looking forward to their season,” Cooper Flagg said. “They’re going to have a really good team. Coach Markwood’s done an incredible job since he’s been here. I’m excited for him. He’s got a good opportunity.”

As the end of the camp’s morning session, Ace and Cooper Flagg played short games of 2-on-2 basketball against a counselor and a camper. The brothers took turns dunking on delighted campers, or blocking their shots with mock ferocity. It’s likely the last time for a long time somebody will grin with glee after being posterized by a Flagg.

Cooper is the brother with the NBA bona fides, the one these campers will see on ESPN. Ace, though, is the one they can come see here in Orono, in the Pit with the Black Bears. He’ll be right there, in person, and there’s something to be said for that tangibility. They’ll both continue to inspire awe and motivation.

“I’ve been up for summer workouts. Being able to get close to the team, get close to the community, be home for a little bit and have some time in the state, it’s been great,” Ace said. “It’s been a very special place in my heart.”

Maine’s first home game is scheduled for Nov. 16, a Sunday afternoon against Quinnipiac. For the first time in a few years, Ace doesn’t have a home away from home. Home is home.

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