‘Pain-free’ Flagg all set for Duke’s tourney run
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David HaleMar 20, 2025, 01:40 PM ET Close College football reporter.Joined ESPN in 2012. Graduate of the University of Delaware.RALEIGH,
- N.C.– Cooper Flagg states he is” pain-free”after suffering an ankle injury that kept him out of most of Duke’s ACC competition champion run, and he expects to be fully healthy for the Blue Devils’NCAA competition opener against Mount St. Mary’s on Friday.The Duke star rolled his ankle in the first half against Georgia Tech on March 13, but Flagg stated he went through a complete practice Wednesday and expects no problems when he takes the court for his very first NCAA tournament game.Editor’s Picks 2 Related” We have actually been resolving the steps of simply returning to 100 percent, and I feel great,”Flagg said Thursday.”I’m very positive progressing.”Coach Jon Scheyer
said Flagg
wanted to play in the ACC tournament, however Duke’s staff wished to continue carefully. Flagg did not go through warmups before any of heaven Devils’game
last weekend, however he moved without concern on the sideline and didn’t require any protective shoes.”He’s been itching to go out there, “Scheyer stated.”I believe that says a lot about who he is because a lot of guys would be more patient or not as nervous to go out there. That’s just not the method he’s wired, his family, everyone with them.”Flagg stated he has dealt with minor ankle injuries often, but he understood right away that this one was a bit more extreme. He exited the game, Duke’s ACC tournament opener, and had an MRI and X-rays that both showed
no considerable damage. Flagg stated he invested the next week working with Duke’s training staff on a rehab program focused on having him completely healthy for the NCAA competition.”From the start of the week, it was type of like an accumulation of jumping back into practice, returning to 100 percent, doing some private things with some of the coaches on the side,”Flagg stated.”Then I was back at full practice [Wednesday] “Flagg stated he went through that practice without concerns and had”one hundred percent full mobility.”Scheyer wasn’t quite so joyful in his medical diagnosis but concurred that Flagg was moving without any restrictions.” This has to do with him being able to move properly,”Scheyer stated.”
He wasn’t going to play if he was compensating. No matter what, an ankle sprain, to say he’s 100 percent
[ for Friday], he has to work through that a bit still. However he’s not compensating.”Even without Flagg– and forward Maliq Brown, who is out with an apart shoulder– Duke rolled through the ACC competition, knocking off Louisville by 11 in the last. Duke used its length on defense, though center Khaman Maluach stated that was merely a higher focus on something heaven Devils had actually currently been doing all season.”It didn’t matter that the lineup altered. We were simply us and still played our typical basketball,”Maluach said. “[ However] I mored than happy that [Flagg] was out there practicing, returning one action at a time. I’m thrilled to see him play.”Flagg is averaging 18.9 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.1 assists and was a consensus All-American. Scheyer bewared in his examination of Brown’s possible return. The junior will not likely see action in the opening weekend, however Scheyer said Brown is eager to contribute. Ought To heaven Devils make a deeper run, there’s a possibility he could return for later games.” I do not know if that’s going to take place, “Scheyer said,”but that’s
his frame of mind, that’s our state of mind to do everything we can to simply provide it an opportunity if we can continue to advance in this competition.”