The Duke Blue Devils won the ACC title over the weekend, despite their finest player and anticipated No. 1 overall choice in the NBA draft, Cooper Flagg, being sidelined with an ankle sprain sustained against Georgia Tech in the conference tournament’s quarterfinals.
With the Blue Devils scheduled to play in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday, there is rising speculation and concern about whether Flagg will play. Duke head coach Jon Scheyer has stated that he will most likely be ready to go on Friday.
With a bright future ahead of him and being widely regarded as the consensus top overall pick, others argue that he should not play, particularly in the first round. However, renowned Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski gave a clear message regarding Flagg as the team prepares to face the winner of Mount St. Mary’s and American, who will face off in Wednesday’s First Four battle in Dayton.
“I think Jon Scheyer did a great job and our medical staff saying right from the start you’re not playing, so it puts in Cooper’s mind, ‘Okay, I’m gonna be completely honest.’ You know this kid wants to play. I think he’s as good of a player as there is in college basketball—not think, I know he is. So, you took that out of his mind and everybody else’s mind… So Duke doesn’t play until Friday, and I expect Cooper to play, but we’ll be better as a result of him being out and going through those situations, going through adversity.”
Cooper Flagg is perhaps the best player in college basketball this season. While Duke’s national title chances may be dependent on his health, the squad has demonstrated that it can function without him, as evidenced by victories over North Carolina and Louisville, both of which advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
Flagg leads Duke in scoring, rebounding, assists, steals, blocks, and minutes played. He is averaging 18.9 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 1.5 steals, and 1.3 blocks heading into the tournament, while shooting 48.8% from the field, 36.8% from three, and 83.0% from the free throw line.
