Maine’s Cooper Flagg, Brockton’s AJ Dybantsa among biggest standouts at Nike’s Peach Jam showcase
A pair of local 16-year-olds became viral sensations after strong performances at one of the top high school tournaments.
With Victor Wembanyama now in the NBA, the next possible young basketball sensations might hail from New England.
Highly-regarded 16-year-olds Cooper Flagg and AJ Dybantsa both dominated at Nike’s EYBL Peach Jam, an event that pits many of the nation’s top AAU basketball teams against each other in age-based tournaments.
Flagg was arguably the biggest standout of the week-long event in North Augusta, South Carolina, with highlights from each of his games flooding social media. The Newport, Maine, native averaged 26.7 points, 13.2 rebounds, 5.5 assists, and a whopping 7.7 blocks per game through the first five games of the tournament, helping Maine United win each game to advance to the championship game of the U16 (16-and-under) tournament.
Despite his stellar play, Flagg and Maine United fell to Nightrydas Elite 58-50. The matchup actually pit Flagg against fellow class of 2025 recruit Cayden Boozer (son of former NBA star Carlos Boozer), who Flagg has been battling with for the top spot in the overall class recruiting rankings.
Boozer outscored Flagg, putting up 23 points with five assists. But Flagg also filled up the stat sheet. The 6-foot-8 forward had 18 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists, and two blocks.
Two of Flagg’s points came off an impressive alley-oop dunk to himself.
That was just one of the many highlight plays Flagg made over the week that displayed his length. He made numerous high-flying dunks and difficult blocks to help him put up absurd stat lines throughout the week, such as a 38-point, 11-block game he had against Pro Skills.
Flagg also got to meet basketball royalty during the week. LeBron James, who was coaching his son Bryce during the event, shared a moment with Flagg on Friday.
While he’s still playing for Maine United, Flagg has already begun school elsewhere. He transferred to Montverde Academy in Florida ahead of his sophomore year beginning in 2022. The private high school has turned into one of the nation’s top basketball high schools in the country, helping players like Joel Embiid, Cade Cunningham, Scottie Barnes, RJ Barrett, and Ben Simmons develop into NBA draft picks.
As Flagg still has two years left of high school, the recruiting process for him is just starting to ramp up. He actually received his first scholarship offer from Bryant University when he was in eighth grade.
Like many top recruits though, Flagg has his eyes set on bigger schools. He said in January that Duke is his dream school and actually mentioned Celtics star Jayson Tatum as one of his inspirations.
Dybantsa, meanwhile, didn’t have the team success that Flagg had, but he might have done something more impressive. The Brockton native led the 17-and-under division in scoring even though he just finished his freshman year of high school.
Dybantsa scored 25.8 points per game over Expression Elite’s five games in the tournament. The 6-foot-8 teenager shot 46.6 percent from the field and 30.8 percent from deep, making 81.6 percent of his free throws while adding 5.6 rebounds and 2.4 rebounds per game for the Boston-based EYBL team.
Before finishing his freshman year at St. Sebastian in Needham, Dybantsa was tabbed as the No. 1 recruit for the class of 2026. He seemed to help prove that this past week at Peach Jam, with CBS Sports’ Gary Parrish comparing him to Tatum, Kawhi Leonard, and Paul George.
While he’s being compared to star players, Dybantsa’s biggest inspiration outside of his family is another player from Massachusetts, the late Terrence Clarke. The Dorchester native tragically died in a car crash after finishing his freshman season at Kentucky while preparing for the 2021 NBA Draft.
“That was basically my cousin,” Dybantsa told Parrish. “We’re not related, but that was basically my cousin. Every time I seen him, I was little bro to him.”
Dybantsa told Parrish that he plans to do a year of college before pursuing the NBA. He already has several scholarship offers, including ones from Boston College, Michigan, and Alabama.
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