The Duke basketball preseason is officially as the start of fall practice began on Monday but the Blue Devils are dealing with another injury to one of its freshman.
After guard Darren Harris missed portions of summer workouts with a fractured left hand, Jon Scheyer said that his team was as healthy as it had been all offseason when the fall semester began but that has since changed.
In a video posted to social media of freshman phenomenon Cooper Flagg recording a steal and breakaway dunk, Patrick Ngongba could be seen sitting on the opposite bench with a walking boot on his left leg.
admin didn’t see Coop coming either 🤷♂️ @Cooper_Flagg pic.twitter.com/CtONr5zSPD
— Duke Men’s Basketball (@DukeMBB) September 23, 2024
Ngongba missed nearly all of his senior season in high school due to surgery on his right foot. He was able to return and play three games with Paul VI (Va.) during Chipotle Nationals in March.
The 6-foot-11 center also participated in the 2024 FIBA Men's U18 AmeriCup in June and averaged a modest 4.5 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1.2 blocks and 1.0 assists per game as Team USA captured the gold medal.
It remains unclear at this time when Ngonaba, ranked as the No. 26 recruit in the country according to the 247Sports Composite rankings, suffered his latest injury.
The timetable for a return to the court could make playing time for Patrick Ngongba that much more difficult. There were already some questions about where he fit in the rotation this season with 5-star freshman Khaman Maluach and Syracuse transfer Maliq Brown likley commanding most of the minutes at center.
Duke is also going to implement versatile lineups with Cooper Flagg playing minutes at power forward in addition to Purdue transfer Mason Gillis, which would affect the amount of time Ngongba is on the floor.
Now, he will try and quickly recover from the injury to provide a positive impact on the Blue Devils this season.