Cooper Flagg is “a real longshot” to play again for Duke during the ACC Tournament this week, head coach Jon Scheyer said Thursday following a 78-70 win over Georgia Tech.
Flagg was helped off the floor late in the first half with an apparent ankle injury and was later ruled out for the remainder of the game. Duke trailed 31-26 to the eighth-seeded Yellow Jackets after 20 minutes, but rallied in the second half behind 28 points from Kon Knueppel to win the game and advance to the tournament semifinals.
When Flagg was spotted heading to the x-ray room in Spectrum Center in a wheelchair, speculation about a serious injury surged. But Flagg emerged from those exams walking under his own power without a boot or cast on. He spent most of the second half on the bench.
“He came down, sprained his ankle. X-rays were negative, which is great,” Scheyer told reporters after the game. “We just have to understand there’s going to be swelling and see how he recovers and how he goes from there.”
Flagg entered Thursday’s game leading the Blue Devils (29-3, 19-1 ACC) in scoring with more than 19 points per game. The freshman forward averaged 21.2 points per game in ACC play. Flagg was also the Duke leader in rebounds (7.6), assists (4.2), steals (1.5), and blocks (1.3).
He had just 2 points on 1-of-7 shooting with 4 rebounds, 2 steals, and a blocked shot in 15 minutes.
Scheyer was quite definitive in shutting down any potential return this week for the young forward.
“It’s not worth it,” Scheyer said. “It just isn’t. He was swollen already. It’s not about being ready to go tomorrow, that’s not the most important thing for us. We’ve gotta see if we can get him right for this run that we can make in the (NCAA) Tournament. I would have to be really convinced that we should even consider seeing if he can go tomorrow.
“And he might not be able to go anyway. He probably won’t be able to go anyway.”
The Blue Devils are among the favorites to win a national championship this season, per the latest March Madness odds. At the time of publication, BetMGM listed Duke at +375 to win it all. Only Auburn had shorter odds.
The first round of the NCAA Tournament will begin on March 20.
And it isn’t just Flagg who needs to get healthy between now and then. Thursday’s game against Georgia Tech also saw Maliq Brown exit with an apparent shoulder injury. Scheyer said Brown had been taken to the hospital for further evaluation of his shoulder but didn’t have an update beyond that.
“Maliq was in a lot of pain. He re-dislocated his shoulder … that’s why we got him a stretcher just to tolerate the pain,” Scheyer said. “He was in a lot of pain.”
Duke will face either North Carolina or Wake Forest on Friday in the ACC Tournament semifinals.
