The Duke Blue Devils number 1 are recovering their star on the court for the beginning of the NCAA tournament.
Cooper Flagg has no designation of injuries and will be active for Duke against No. 16 Mount St. Mary’s at the Lenovo Center in Raleight, North Carolina, Friday.
FlagG, the projected number 1 selection of the NBA Draft of 2025, has been outside the Blue Devils from the room finals of ACC, where it suffered an ankle injury against Georgia Tech.
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Duke Blue Devils striker, Cooper Flagg, walks to the bank during the first half against the heels of North Carolina tar in the Spectrum Center. (Images Jim Dedmon-Imagn)
But Flagg tells the New York Post on Thursday that he is “really sure to go 100%” in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
“I had a magnetic resonance, X -rays, both looked really good. So, from then on, I was just advancing, type of pain tolerance things, just obtaining the recovery and treatment I needed.”
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Flagg added that he was building his ankle again “jumping back into practice”, as well as individual training on one side. He had a complete practice on Wednesday, which finally confirmed that he is ready to start.
This is where the injury was in tendency for Flagg, but when it happened initially, the Blue Devils fans were counting their collective breath, since their hopes of national title would have had a great impact if he could not play in the tournament.
Duke Blue Devils striker, Cooper Flagg, reacts in the second half in Dean E. Smith Center. (Bob Donnan-Imagn images)
However, Duke could still win the ACC Tournament, which included the absence of starting striker Maliq Brown, who is still dealing with a scattered shoulder.
Chief coach Jon Scheyer also pointed out that Flagg wanted to play in the game for the TCO title, but Duke decided to hold him. Now that he has seen his star student in practice, Scheyer explained that his return to the game was “about being able to move correctly.”
“I wasn’t going to play if I was compensating,” Scheyer explained on Thursday, according to the publication. “Look, no matter what (with) an ankle sprain … to say that it is 100% tomorrow, it has to overcome it a little. But it is not compensating.
“We build it slowly and we really progress in the right way, but it is ready to start.”
The Duke Blue Devils Cooper Flagg guard before the game against Syracuse Orange at Jma Wireless Dome. (Rich Barnes-Imagn images)
Flagg was an All-American consensus during the 2024-25 campaign, as well as the current favorite to win the player of the year after averaging 18.9 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 1.5 robberies and 1.3 blocks per game.
Flagg is the team leader in each of those categories.
