The Duke Blue Devils N ° 1 recovers his star on the field for the start of the NCAA tournament.
Cooper Flagg has no injury designation and will be active for Duke against No. 16 Mount St. Mary’s at Lenovo Center in Raleigh, North Carolina on Friday.
FLAGG, the n ° 1 choice for the NBA 2025 draft, was released for the Blue Devils from the ACC quarter -finals, where he suffered an ankle injury against Georgia Tech.
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Duke Blue Devils striker, Cooper Flagg, goes to the bench during the first half against the Northern Carolina Tar Heels at the Spectrum Center. (Jim Dedmon-Imagn images)
But Flagg told the New York Post Thursday that he is “really 100%confident” in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
“I had an MRI, radiographs, the two looked really well. So, from there, he only moved on to pain, just the recovery and treatment I needed.”
Duke Great Seth Curry praises Cooper Flagg before the NCAA Touranment: “ Sage beyond his years’ ”
Flagg added that he reinforced his ankle again by “putting into practice”, as well as individual training on the side. He had full training on Wednesday, which finally confirmed that he was ready to leave.
This is where the injury tended to Flagg, but when it happened initially, Blue Devils fans held their collective breath, because their national title hopes would have had a major impact if he could not play in the tournament.
Duke Blue Devils Cooper Flagg’s striker reacts in the second half to the Dean E. Smith Center. (Bob Donnan-Imagn images)
However, Duke was still able to win the ACC tournament, which included the absence of the beginning of Maliq Brown, which is still faced with a dislocated shoulder.
Head coach Jon Scheyer also noted that Flagg wanted to play in the match for the title AC, but Duke decided to hold him back. Now that he has seen his star student in practice, Scheyer explained that his return to the game was “to be able to move properly”.
“He was not going to play if he had awarded,” said Scheyer on Thursday, according to the post. “Listen, no matter what (with) a sprained ankle … To say that it is 100% tomorrow, he must work a little. But he does not compensate.
“We have built it slowly and really progressed in the right direction, but it is ready to leave.”
Duke Blue Devils Cooper Flagg’s goalkeeper before the match against Syracuse Orange at JMA Wireless Dome. (Images rich in Barnes-Imagn)
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 an average of 18.9 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 1.5 interceptions and 1.3 blocks per match.
Flagg is the team leader in each of these categories.
