Duke basketball freshman star hints at status against Boston College

A potential update was provided on injured Duke basketball star Jalen Johnson.

One of the biggest questions surrounding the Duke basketball program in its three-week layoff is the health of Jalen Johnson.

Johnson last played in the Blue Devils’ loss to No. 6 Illinois and was ruled out ‘indefinitely’ by the team one day prior to its matchup with Notre Dame on December 16 with a foot injury.

However, it’s unknown when the injury occurred, but ESPN play-by-play announcer Bob Wischusen said Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski told him that Johnson was in a walking boot and would be reevaluated in 2-3 weeks.

After the 2-3 week timeline, the team would then know how long it would be before the freshman star was able to return to the court.

The timetable is extremely accurate because it will be 21 days in between the Blue Devils’ victory over the Fighting Irish and meeting with Boston College on Wednesday night.

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In the past, the Duke Men’s Basketball social media pages have given excellent clues as to when injured players could be returning to the court, and Johnson was shown in practice, without a boot, after the team’s postponed game against Pittsburgh and prior to its scheduled meeting with Florida State.

Johnson has not been spotted in the various videos of practice before the Boston College showdown, although through his own social media pages, the 6-foot-9 forward did travel to Tallahassee with the team after not making the trip to South Bend.

On Tuesday night, Jalen Johnson tweeted the ‘SOON’ emoji, indicating that his return to the court is not far away.

The tweet has since been deleted.

Duke basketball could have both of its missing pieces back this week

As speculation continues surrounding the return of Jalen Johnson, Duke is without two of its most important pieces, Johnson and head coach Mike Krzyzewski.

Krzyzewski is continuing his quarantine after he was in contact with a member of his family who had tested positive for COVID-19.

The 73-year-old has not tested positive to date, and there have been reports that the Hall of Famer could be eligible to coach Saturday against Wake Forest.

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If Jalen Johnson does not play against Boston College on Wednesday, could he and Mike Krzyzewski make their returns to the program on Saturday?

I guess we will just have to wait and find out.

Tipoff between the No. 21 Blue Devils (3-2, 1-0 ACC) and Boston College (2-7, 0-3 ACC) is scheduled for 8:30pm EST (ACC Network) in Cameron Indoor Stadium.