The Duke basketball team takes the court for its NCAA Tournament opener on Friday afternoon against Mount St. Mary’s and the Blue Devils will have Cooper Flagg available.
The ACC Player of the Year suffered an ankle sprain during the first half of the ACC Tournament quarterfinal against Georgia Tech and missed the entirety of the second half as well as the semifinals and championship.
All indications since Selection Sunday have been that Flagg would play in Duke’s opening game of the NCAA Tournament but now the program has given its official update that he will be on the floor.
“As soon as I got hurt it was about getting the right treatment, the right recovery, figuring out exactly what was going on,” Flagg said during his media availability Thursday in Raleigh.
He explained he has an X-Ray and MRI and both tests came back clean, and it was about pain tolerance from there.
Flagg was famously captured in a wheelchair going back to the X-Ray room in Charlotte minutes after he suffered the injury last Thursday. He never wore an ankle brace or walking boot on the Duke bench while he was sidelined.
The superstar freshman also said that he is “feeling pretty good” and “confident moving forward”.
Jon Scheyer confirmed Flagg’s status saying he was “good to go” for his NCAA Tournament debut.
"This is about him being able to move properly. He wasn't going to play if he was compensating.”
Scheyer added that Flagg tried to convince him he could play in the ACC Tournament after his injury, but the Blue Devil head coach wasn’t letting him on the court until he could move on the court freely.
He practiced fully on Wednesday.
The Blue Devils are also dealing with another shoulder injury for Maliq Brown, who re-dislocated his shoulder minutes prior to Flagg’s injury against the Yellow Jackets.
Tipoff between Duke and Mount St. Mary’s is slotted for 2:50 p.m. ET (CBS) on Friday.