Quinn Pelletier won a historic vote during this year’s Maine high school basketball tournament, becoming the first-ever eighth-grader to win a class MVP award as part of the Bangor Daily News’ all-tourney balloting.
Now it looks like he could potentially win another vote, this time on the national stage.
Pelletier, a 14-year-old from Madawaska, left the Cross Insurance Center spellbound last Saturday with a 43-point performance in the Class C regional final. His team couldn’t quite win the game against an undefeated Mattanawcook Academy squad, but Pelletier is certainly winning some deserved attention as part of an all-around exciting tournament for the Madawaska Owls.
Athlete of the week vote
His big night is getting big attention nationally, with Pelletier on a list of 20 players who could potentially be named Sports Illustrated’s National High School Boys Athlete of the Week for Feb. 17-23.
And if you’re wondering how that vote is going so far, Pelletier is ahead. Way ahead.
As of early Sunday morning, he has more than 60 percent of the vote. The next closest player is around 17 percent. The vote closes on Monday, March 3.
His 43 points in one game, and 71 total during Madawaska’s three-game tournament showing, would have been impressive for a player of any age. But the staggering ability he is showing as an eighth-grader is really turning heads.
Making his own way
It’s hard not to notice the Facebook comments already popping up that compare Pelletier to Duke freshman phenom Cooper Flagg. But Pelletier isn’t letting those comments affect him, and thinks they are premature. His father, who also coaches the Madawaska team, agrees.
Matt MacKenzie, the Flaggs’ longtime player development coach based in Veazie, has been working with Pelletier since he was in the sixth grade and thought it was an unfair comparison.
“I definitely think it’s a conversation for later, for when I’ve matured more, put in more work, and gotten better,” Pelletier said when asked about the comparisons in a Thursday interview. He agreed that his focus is about being his own player and making a name for himself rather than trying to be the next Cooper Flagg.
“Cooper is a once-in-a-lifetime generational player,” Shawn Pelletier, Quinn’s father and coach, said. “Quinn still has a lot of work to do before he’s even talked about in that same breath.”
MacKenzie said Pelletier “could be a very special player,” but that it would be unfair to compare any up-and-comer to Cooper Flagg or his brother Ace given their high levels of success.
Pelletier has big goals, to be sure. He wants to help bring a state championship home to Madawaska. He also wants to “play high-level college basketball, and to see where it takes me from there.”
But rather than a comparison, the Flaggs provide inspiration, both the Pelletiers and MacKenzie said.
A couple of kids from Maine
Asked about the Flagg brothers, Quinn Pelletier talked about the message it sends when “just a couple kids from Newport, Maine” are competing and succeeding at such a high level. He said that “definitely shows all the kids from Maine here that there really is a chance for us, and gives us a boost of confidence.”
MacKenzie helped Pelletier get involved with the club basketball team he directs called Team Maine, an experience that has taken Pelletier on the road to play against top competition outside the state. It has also helped connect him and other rising Maine eighth-grade stars with the Flaggs.
“Both Cooper and Ace have been instrumental in helping the younger generation of Maine basketball players over the last couple of years, particularly with the Team Maine group that Quinn has played for,” MacKenzie explained, saying the Flaggs have made themselves available to answer questions and share their experiences.
MacKenzie said that the Team Maine group was able to be involved with the “Maine Event” showcase that the Flaggs and others put on in Portland in 2024. And after that, the Flaggs have continued to keep tabs on the group, MacKenzie said.
“Whenever I’m with Cooper and Ace, they’re always asking questions about who some of the next players are, and how they’re playing,” MacKenzie said. “It’s just really neat to have that two-way interest in Quinn with Cooper and Ace, but also Cooper and Ace interested in how Quinn and his teammates are playing back home in Maine.”
Shawn Pelletier said the Flaggs’ “ability to get in the gym and just work as hard as they can” to achieve their goals sets an important example for kids.
‘I don’t usually like to shoot that much’
MacKenzie’s Eastern Maine Sports Academy in Veazie became “kind of our home away from home” during the tournament, according to Shawn Pelletier. And what a tournament it was for Madawaska as it turns into a basketball town.
Pelletier’s 43-point game may have gotten the most attention, but it wasn’t the only high point for the Owls. Senior forward Sam Thibeault just would not stop throwing down momentum-building dunks. Junior guard Isaac Beaulieu knocked down big shot after big shot. Pelletier’s older brother Brayden provided a steady presence and direction on the floor.
Quinn Pelletier was quick to point to the team effort when approached by a reporter after his jaw-dropping regional final performance. And he said more recently that he’d rather not put up that many shots.
“I don’t usually like to shoot that much,” said the six-foot-four forward, preferring to get his teammates the ball. “But at that point we needed to score to catch back up. So, the shots were going in, I kept on taking them.”
His coach and father said there was no effort to force the situation as Quinn stacked up points in the second-half push against Mattanawcook Academy of Lincoln — a push that fell just short.
“All I knew was that we needed buckets,” Shawn Pelletier said. “It just happened that Quinn got hot.”
MacKenzie expected a “really good first year” from Quinn, but wasn’t sure he would have predicted him “going off for 40-plus points” during the tournament.
“I’ve seen him perform under high pressure at a national level,” MacKenzie explained. “So for him to be able to impact the game at such a high level on the biggest stage here in Maine high school basketball, it didn’t shock me. But certainly, any time a player has 40-plus points, it’s going to wow you a bit.”
It definitely wowed the media members and tournament officials who voted for the BDN’s all-tournament team. Pelletier was selected as the Class C MVP, the first time in memory that an eighth-grader received that honor.
“His success is really built on the fact that he has such a high motor, and he’s incredibly competitive in terms of how hard he plays every game,” MacKenzie said.
MacKenzie sees Pelletier’s skillset improving as he gets more comfortable with the ball in his hands and playing away from the basket. If he can continue to develop that perimeter game, MacKenzie thinks Pelletier is “going to be really special for years to come.”
Pelletier’s stats were already pretty special for the Owls this year, with the eighth-grader averaging more than 18 points, seven rebounds, more than four assists and more than three steals per game.
Brothers battle in the driveway
Pelletier said the work to develop his skills as a basketball player is something that goes as far back as the first grade, and he’s no stranger to playing against kids who are older than him.
That includes going head-to-head with his older brother Brayden, a junior guard on the Madawaska team.
“It definitely helped playing against my older brother. I’ve always been playing against him outside since I was young,” Quinn explained. “It definitely helped me mature earlier, and just get more physical too.”
Those games of one-on-one are usually pretty evenly matched, according to the younger of the two brothers, with the Pelletier boys trading wins.
“It’s great to watch them battle in the driveway,” Shawn Pelletier added. “Sometimes our neighbors probably aren’t too happy with the yelling and screaming at each other. But I think it’s definitely made Quinn a better player, being able to play against his older brother. And then also the same thing from Brayden, it makes him a better player to play against Quinn.”
Looking to run it back
Shawn Pelletier repeatedly emphasized throughout Madawaska’s time at the Bangor tournament how much work his entire team had put in to get to that point, and how they were pushing the limits of what other Owls teams had done before them.
“And we’re looking to run it back next year, so we’re going to get back to work,” the coach said.
If next year is anything like this one, expect quite the show.
MacKenzie noted how Madawaska had to play from behind much of the regional championship game. And what fans saw as a result shows great signs for next year.
“I feel like that continued to drive Quinn, and he just played with an incredible amount of heart and determination and pride for his team, his community,” MacKenzie said, adding that was “a really nice preview” of more to come.
When asked about being the only eighth-grader to win an MVP as part of the all-tournament team, Pelletier was appreciative and said the achievement felt good.
“But it’s over now,” he said matter-of-factly. He’s focused on getting back to work, getting ready for next season and hoping to “bring the gold ball home” to Madawaska.
