The No. 1 seeded Duke Blue Devils have been firing on all cylinders since December, and with their first-round matchup on the horizon, the anticipation is palpable for what is likely to be freshman sensation Cooper Flagg’s return to the court. Flagg has missed the last two games due to a sprained ankle, which he suffered against Georgia Tech in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament.
Duke is set to play the winner of the First Four game on Wednesday night between Mount St. Mary’s and American, which will take place in Dayton, but the Blue Devils’ game isn’t until Friday.
Ahead of that, Duke announced some rare news regarding Flagg, whose freshman campaign has been remarkable in every facet. The Newport, Maine, star was named a consensus first-team All-American by four different media outlets. He earned first-team All-American honors from the NABC, Sporting News, Associated Press, and the United States Basketball Writers Association.
Duke’s post read, “officially official,” with an American flag emoji.
Flagg enters the tournament averaging 18.9 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 1.5 steals, and 1.3 blocks. He leads the entire Duke roster in points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks, and minutes played.
However, with Duke now being the current betting favorite to win the NCAA Tournament, according to DraftKings Sportsbook, and Flagg being the favorite to win National Player of the Year, the pressure is on for the Blue Devils to live up to the expectations that have been set-namely, a Final Four appearance, and potentially even a national championship or bust.
Yet, Flagg’s health could be the determining factor in how far they can go this March and into early April. Right now, there’s a lot of optimism brewing in Durham, especially from head coach Jon Scheyer, who revealed earlier this week that Flagg is expected to be ready to go on Friday.
“From my perspective, it’s full steam ahead,” Scheyer said. “I want to get Coop back as quickly as we can, and he wants the same.” He added, “We’re hoping he can start progressing tomorrow with some on-court work and then build up to where he can practice later in the week.
Our goal is for Friday-no question about it. I know that’s his goal as well. We’re just going to progress the right way and still be smart about not doing too much at the beginning of the week.”
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