Seed 1 Duke Blue Devil Put their stars back on the court at the start of the NCAA Championship.
Cooper Flagg will be active on Friday at Mount St. Mary’s in the Lenovo Center in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Flag, expected first pick 2025 NBA DraftHe has been on the Blue Devils since the ACC quarterfinals, where he suffered an ankle injury to Georgia Tech.
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In the first half, Duke Blue Devils forward Cooper Flagg walked to the bench on the North Carolina tar heels at the Spectrum Center. (Jim Dedmon-Imagn image)
But Flag told New York Post He was “very confident to go 100%” in the first round of the NCAA Championship on Thursday.
“I have an MRI, X-ray, and both of them look really good. So since then it keeps going, painful stuff type stuff, just get the recovery and treatment I need.”
Duke Seth Curry praises Cooper Flagg before NCAA tour: “The Years Beyond Him”
Flag added that he is building his ankle again with “jump back exercises” and personal exercises on the sides. He did the full exercise on Wednesday and finally confirmed that he was ready.
This is where Flagg’s injury trend is, but when it first happened, Blue Devils fans held their breath as their national champion hoped that if he couldn’t play, their national champion would have a significant impact.
Duke Blue Devils forward Cooper Flagg reacted in the second half at the Dean E. Smith Center. (Bob Donnan-Imagn image)
But Duke still wins ACC Championshipwhich includes Maliq Brown who didn’t start moving forward, who is still dealing with a dislocated shoulder.
Head coach Jon Scheyer also noted that Flagg wanted to compete in the ACC Championship, but Duke decided to eliminate him. Now that he has seen his star student in practice, Scheyer explained that his return to the game was “about him being able to act correctly.”
Scheyer explained in a post Thursday: “If he wants compensation, he won’t play. But he doesn’t compensate.
“We built him slowly and really improved him the right way, but he was ready to go.”
Duke Blue Devils defender Cooper Flagg was ahead of the game against JMA Wireless Dome’s Syracuse Orange. (Abundant Barnes-Imagn images)
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Flag was the national consensus during the 2024-25 campaign and is currently the favorite Player of the Year, averaging 18.9 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.3 blocks per game.
Flagg is the team leader for each of these categories.
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