Star freshman Cooper Flagg will play on Friday afternoon when top-ranked Duke begins play in the NCAA Tournament against Mount St. Mary’s in an East Region game in Raleigh, N.C.
The forward’s availability was in question after he sustained a sprained left ankle in the first half in the Blue Devils’ 78-70 victory over Georgia Tech on March 13 in the Atlantic Coast Conference quarterfinal. X-rays taken at the arena were negative.
Flagg said on Thursday that he was a full participant at practice on Wednesday.
“I’m feeling pretty good,” Flagg said Thursday during Duke’s news conference. “We have an incredible training staff. We’ve been working through the steps of getting back to 100 percent.”
Without Flagg on the court last Friday, Duke earned a 74-71 victory over rival North Carolina in the ACC semifinals and a 73-62 win over Louisville the following night in the conference final.
“We built him up slowly and really progressed him the right way, but he’s ready to go. In his mind, he was ready last weekend, but he wasn’t. He wasn’t,” Blue Devils head coach Jon Scheyer said. “I think that says a lot about who he is because a lot of guys would be more patient or not as anxious to get out there. That’s just not the way he’s wired, his family, everybody with them.”
The ACC Player of the Year, Flagg averaged 18.9 points (third in the ACC), 7.5 rebounds (ninth) and 4.1 assists (eighth) as the spotlight fixture for the Blue Devils’ top-ranked freshman class.
Duke (31-3) had to wait to learn who its first-round opponent would be. Turns out the Blue Devils will face No. 16 seed Mount St. Mary’s (23-12), which defeated American 83-72 in the First Four on Wednesday night in Dayton, Ohio.
Duke carries an 11-game winning streak and holds a No. 1 regional seed for the 15th time.
–Field Level Media
