Duke head coach Jon Scheyer has delivered a crucial update on his star player ahead of the NCAA Tournament kicking off this week.
The Blue Devils clinched the No. 1 seed but they suffered a blow on the way with Cooper Flagg sustaining a concerning injury.
Flagg, widely expected to be the No. 1 pick in this year’s NBA Draft, exiting Duke’s ACC quarterfinal against Georgia Tech with an ankle injury last Thursday.
But Scheyer offered fan’s a glimmer of hope when he revealed that the 18-year-old could return as early as Duke’s first game of the tournament.
‘Well from my perspective it’s full-steam ahead,’ Scheyer told ESPN. ‘I want to get Coop back as quickly as we can and he wants to do the same…
‘We’re hopeful he can start to progress starting tomorrow with doing some on-court work and then build up to where he can practice later in the week. So our goal is for Friday, no question about it. I know that’s his goal as well.’
Duke head coach Jon Scheyer has delivered a crucial update on his star player Cooper Flagg
Flagg hobbled off the court with an ankle injury during the ACC tournament last week
The Blue Devils also lost Maliq Brown to a shoulder injury during the ACC matchup
Flagg suffered an awkward fall during the ACC quarterfinal last Thursday. He scored only two points and registered four rebounds before getting hurt.
The top-ranked Blue Devils were trailing 26-17 late in the first half when Flagg went up for a rebound and crashed to the floor after he appeared to have his left foot land on the foot of Georgia Tech’s Baye Ndongo.
He hobbled back to the bench in clear distress, then bent over with his hands on the seats and pounded a chair with his right fist.
After sitting on the bench for a few minutes, Flagg got up and put his arms around two teammates and was taken to the locker room for observation. He was later seen in a wheelchair in the bowels of the Spectrum Center being taken to the X-ray room at halftime.
Duke managed to win the league’s postseason dance, beating University of North Carolina and Louisville without both Flagg and Maliq Brown but will be hoping to have tis star power back to make a deep run in March Madness.
Flagg’s versatility allows him to impact the game from anywhere on the floor as a scorer (18.9), rebounder (7.5), playmaker (4.1 assists) and defender (1.3 blocks and 1.5 steals).
Duke is a heavy Final Four favorite with the No. 1 seed face the winner of American and Mount St. Mary’s on Friday.
American and Mount St. Mary’s will face off in Dayton on Wednesday in the First Four.
