Cooper Flagg has been tabbed as a finalist for the Gatorade National Boys Basketball Player of the Year Award.
Two years after becoming the first ever freshman to win the Maine Gatorade Boys Basketball Player of the Year Award, Flagg has now won the state award in Florida, and is in the running to win Gatorade’s national award.
The 6-foot-9, 17-year-old from Newport, Maine has led his Montverde Academy Eagles to the No. 1 ranking in the country this year, and has already won the Naismith High School Player of the Year Award this month. He will play at Duke University next fall.
The other two finalists are also five-star recruits in the class of 2024: 6-foot-8 Ace Bailey of McEachern High School (Georgia), who is committed to Rutgers University, and 6-foot-4 V.J. Edgecombe of Long Island Lutheran High School (New York), who is committed to Baylor University.
The winner will be announced by Gatorade in the next couple of weeks.
Previous winners of the Gatorade National Basketball Award include Gradey Dick of the Toronto Raptors (2022), Chet Holmgren of the Oklahoma City Thunder (2021), Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics (2016) and LeBron James (2002, 2003).
In addition to the Naismith and Gatorade Awards, Flagg was recognized as a McDonald’s All-American in January, and as the USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year in December 2022.
