Evie Bowman was thrilled on Sunday afternoon.
Not only was her daughter, Kelly Flagg, being inducted into the Maine Sports Hall of Fame, but the whole Flagg family was on hand to help celebrate the occasion at Husson University in Bangor.
NBA rookie Cooper Flagg was able to get back to Maine for the event ahead of preseason with the Dallas Mavericks. His twin brother Ace Flagg is now down the road as a freshman on the University of Maine men’s basketball team, and older brother Hunter Flagg is also a student at UMaine.
All three brothers were in attendance Sunday afternoon, along with parents Kelly and Ralph Flagg.
Bowman says she calls the group her “Flagg Five” and was reveling in the chance to have them all together, especially with grandson Cooper now playing in Dallas.
“I always like to have all my Flagg Five all together, whenever I get them,” Bowman said.
Several of the Flaggs were also sporting “F5” necklaces in homage to that nickname, family members explained.
The Flagg Five had plenty to celebrate on Sunday, as Kelly Flagg was recognized for her time as a player and coach. She was a standout at Nokomis Regional High School in Newport, the same school where her three sons would win a state championship together in 2022. She went on to the University of Maine, where she was a member of the only team in school history to win an NCAA tournament game.
“It’s just a great honor to be recognized. There are so many deserving honorees today,” Kelly Flagg said.
After her sons’ basketball careers have taken the family to Florida, North Carolina and now Texas, she always welcomes the chance to be back in her home state.
“Maine really means everything to us, to our family,” Flagg continued. “It’s where I grew up, it’s where I learned my values, and about community and pride in where you’re from. And to be part of this is really special.”
Evie Bowman said Sunday’s recognition brought back memories of her daughter’s playing days.
“We knew that she was very talented, not at the same young age that we knew about Cooper,” Bowman said, noting it was clear around second grade that he was “built very different.”
With her daughter, Bowman said they thought around fourth or fifth grade that she could turn into a Division I player. And she did.
“She played the right way,” said Bowman, who was proudest that her daughter was a great teammate.
Kelly Flagg’s father, Dan Bowman, coached her early on. He called his daughter “very easy to coach” and noted how much he hated to lose, a trait she certainly shares with him.
Ralph Flagg, who also played college basketball in Maine, highlighted that competitiveness when asked about his wife’s ability on the court and also credited her work ethic.
The two former Maine high school and college standouts have played their share of one-on-one games against each other. Asked who would get the better of those matchups, Kelly Flagg didn’t hesitate.
“Me, because I would beat him up. There were no fouls in our one-on-one games,” she said. “I would let him shoot from the outside, because that wasn’t his specialty. So I would back up. But if he tried to get into the paint, he was going down.”
In her induction speech, Flagg spoke about playing HORSE in her family’s grass driveway as a kid, worshiping the 1980s Boston Celtics, and going on to have great coaches and teammates during her playing career. She highlighted her most enjoyable coaching experiences, like leading Cooper and Ace’s AAU team alongside her friend and fellow former UMaine Black Bear Andy Bedard.
“My most rewarding role in sports has been that of mom,” she added as her three sons watched from the front row of Husson’s Gracie Theatre.
One of those sons is getting ready for his first season in the NBA, but Cooper Flagg still had time to come back to Maine and help celebrate his mom’s accomplishment. And he even found time to sign a few autographs for some young fans ahead of the ceremony.
“We are small town people with small town values,” Kelly Flagg said. “We care about our neighbors and the community, and we raised our kids to always value that. The people that have helped them along the way, you never forget. And I think that’s really important. So we always just try to come back and be who we are.”