VIDEO: Cooper Flagg, Liam McNeeley, Asa Newell & Derik Queen reminisce over their iconic Montverde Academy team photo, ahead of the 2025 NBA Draft

Heading into the 2025 NBA draft on June 25, Cooper Flagg is getting more attention than any other NBA prospect. He is projected to be the top pick in the draft by the Dallas Mavericks. However, during his journey to the NBA, he played with some great players in high school and college.

On Tuesday, the NBA Instagram account posted a clip of Cooper Flagg, Liam McNeeley, Asa Newell and Derik Queen reminiscing about their Montverde Academy high school team.

"Ya this is the Montverde team 2024," Asa Newell said when looking at a photo.

Liam McNeeley then spoke about what he learned at Montverde Academy:

"Four guys that are currently going through the draft process. It taught me how to play with great players and made the game easy playing with them."

Asa Newell then spoke about the sacrifices of going to that school paying off now:

"We all made sacrifices going to Montverde Academy. The sacrifices are paying off."

Cooper Flagg then spoke about the competition between the players:

"We competed every day at practice you know, having a lot of high Division I players on the same team. You don't see that in high school very often. So, I think just having a really talented skill group. And then we were all really close off the court, you know, hanging out, doing other stuff. So, that was really cool as well."

Derik Queen then chimed in, speaking about his favorite experiences from his time at Montverde Academy:

"Locker room. Locker room is pretty funny. Every single day."

Cooper Flagg and his three Montverde teammates are all projected to be first round picks in the 2025 NBA draft

Heading into the 2025 NBA draft, Cooper Flagg is projected to be the first pick. Many of his former Montverde Academy teammates are also expected to be first-round picks.

On Tuesday, ESPN released its latest mock draft. After Flagg was mocked to go to Dallas with the first pick, Derik Queen was the next Montverde player off the board. They had him going 12th to the Bulls.

Next, they had Asa Newell going 18th to the Washington Wizards, followed by Liam McNeeley going 20th to the Miami Heat. It is not often that a high school team will produce this much NBA talent but Montverde Academy was a special team. All four players appear poised to have strong NBA careers after their impressive college performances.