Jon Scheyer appeared in his first press conference of the summer on July 8th, and spoke on the past season, losing his entire starting five and rebuilding the roster, and more. One main insight he provided was the health of rising sophomore center Patrick Ngongba II and rising senior big man Maliq Brown. Ngongba will likely be the main center in the Duke rotation next season, but injuries have plagued him since high school.
As for Brown, he struggled with injuries throughout his junior season in Durham, which he transferred to after spending two seasons at Syracuse. Brown dislocated his shoulder twice throughout the season, with the second incident coming in Duke's opening ACC Tournament game against Georgia Tech. Brown would miss the rest of the ACC Tournament and the first two NCAA Tournament games, but was able to come back for the Sweet Sixteen, Elite Eight, and Final Four, totaling 22 minutes of action in those games combined.
In late June, a social media post of the Blue Devils at practice showed Ngongba in a walking boot, sparking concern about the projected starter's health. However, Scheyer cleared the air and assured that Ngongba is healthy and ready to go, and Brown is ahead of schedule in his rehab.
"Pat's in perfect health. He's working out, he's playing, he's doing everything. Maliq is weeks ahead of schedule from his surgery, where he's at. You know, he dislocated his shoulder twice, and you have to be really cautious with that. So, he won't do contact still for another four to eight weeks, but he can do everything basically 'five on 0.' He's shooting, he's handling, he's passing. Just seeing him out there is great."
It's a sigh of relief for Blue Devil fans to know that Ngongba is healthy with all of the foot issues he's dealt with. He missed the majority of his senior year of high school with a foot injury, and it hindered him for a good chunk of his first year at Duke.
There's only so much to do to speed up the process after two shoulder dislocations, but Brown is still improving his game in every facet he can.
Both bigs will be critical pieces for the Blue Devils next season, as Brown is one of the best defenders in college basketball, and Duke doesn't have a ton of center depth, putting a lot of the load on Ngongba. The program brought in Iffy Ufochukwu from Rice via the transfer portal, but Ngongba will be the lead five-man.