Worry not Duke followers, the Blue Devils won’t be with out freshman phenom Cooper Flagg as they make a run on the nationwide championship.
NCAA senior vp of males’s basketball Dan Gavitt introduced the college expects Flagg to be obtainable for the beginning of the NCAA Match on March 20.
“What we perceive from communication with Duke and the ACC is that Cooper Flagg might be obtainable for the NCAA match.”
NCAA Senior Vice President of Basketball Dan Gavitt offers an replace on the @DukeMBB star, who is anticipated to get well from his ankle harm in time for… pic.twitter.com/MGgg8YTuA1
— CBS Sports activities School Basketball (@CBSSportsCBB) March 15, 2025
“What we perceive from communication with Duke and the ACC is that Cooper Flagg might be obtainable for the NCAA match,” Gavitt advised CBS Sports activities’ Seth Davis in an on-air interview on Saturday.
Flagg, 18, suffered a sprained ankle in the course of the first half of Duke’s ACC Match quarterfinal win over Georgia Tech on Thursday.
Head coach Jon Scheyer instantly dominated his 6-foot-9 star participant out for the rest of the match as a precaution. Duke is scheduled to play Louisville on Saturday evening within the convention title recreation.
“So far as [Flagg] goes, he is doing higher,” Scheyer advised reporters Friday (h/t ESPN). “Sprained ankle. All of the imaging got here again detrimental. He sprained it fairly good, although… He cannot play… we have to see how this weekend goes with the swelling and what he can do.”
Flagg is expected to be the No. 1 overall selection on the 2025 NBA Draft, so updates on his well being, naturally, are going to be extremely scrutinized.
He is established a powerful legacy for himself within the sport lower than a yr into his collegiate profession.
Flagg broke the ACC’s freshman recreation scoring report (42 points) and is the favorite to win the John Wood Award, given to the game’s most excellent participant. He’s also the first ACC player in the past 25 years to report at the least 500 factors, 100 assists and 30 blocks in a season.
Averaging 18.9 factors per recreation (48.8 field goal percentage), 7.5 rebounds and 4.1 assists per recreation, Flagg is an indispensable asset in Duke’s offense.
The staff definitely felt his absence on Friday, almost blowing a double-digit result in in-state rival North Carolina within the ultimate seconds of the ACC semifinal. Solely a crucial mistake by the Tar Heels allowed Duke to flee with the win.
No matter Saturday’s outcome, the Blue Devils are anticipated to be a high seed in March Insanity as soon as the match bracket is revealed on Choice Sunday.
With Flagg in Scheyer’s lineup, it should be actual laborious for any opponent to forestall Duke from making its 18th look within the Ultimate 4.
