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Cooper Flagg is “full steam ahead” in his recovery from a sprained right ankle and targeting a return to Duke’s lineup for Friday’s NCAA tournament opener.
This is according to Duke head coach Jon Scheyer, who provided an update on the status of his star freshman forward to ESPN following Sunday’s tournament bracket reveal.
Duke men’s basketball head coach Jon Scheyer says it’s “full steam ahead” for Cooper Flagg and the goal is to have him play in the tournament on Friday 💪 pic.twitter.com/vIRGFzljRy
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) March 17, 2025
“From my perspective, it’s full steam ahead,” Scheyer said. “I want to get Coop back as quickly as we can, and he wants to do the same. …
“We’re hoping 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. Our goal is for Friday. No question about it. I know that’s his goal as well. We’re just gonna progress in the right way and still be smart about not doing too much in the beginning of the week.”
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That’s great news for Duke and a far cry from Thursday’s scene in Charlotte where Flagg required a wheelchair after twisting and spraining his right ankle in a win over Georgia Tech. Flagg missed the remainder of the ACC tournament that Duke went on to win with victories over North Carolina and Louisville.
Duke is hoping Cooper Flagg will be ready for Friday’s NCAA tournament opener. (Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
Flag was seen walking and standing on his injured ankle on the sideline without apparent issue during the rest of the ACC tournament. The NCAA tournament committee announced Saturday that Duke and the ACC had informed it that it expected Flagg to be able to play in tournament games.
Now Scheyer has confirmed the expectations surrounding Flagg. As the No. 1 seed in the East region, Duke will take on the winner of a play-in game between No. 16 seeds American and Mount St. Mary’s.
