Duke freshman star Cooper Flagg suffered a left ankle injury Thursday in the Blue Devils’ first appearance of the postseason vs. Georgia Tech and had to be helped off the floor into the locker room. Replays showed Flagg rolling his left ankle as he came down for a rebound and immediately grabbing the area of injury while writhing in pain on the court.
Flagg, the frontrunner to win National Player of the Year for No. 1 Duke, sustained the injury with 2:46 remaining in the first half and was escorted by trainers to the locker room for further evaluation.
Duke said at halftime that his return to the game was doubtful but later ruled him out.
Flagg was unable to put much, if any, weight on the leg after the incident. He punched a chair on the bench in frustration and screamed before being taken back to the locker room, at which point he was placed in a wheelchair with his left shoe removed.
Flagg leads Duke in scoring, rebounding, assists and blocks this season for a Blue Devils team that won the ACC title outright and entered the postseason with a 28-3 overall record. Flagg finished the regular season in style with a 15-point, nine-rebound, six-assist, four-block game in Duke’s sweep of rival North Carolina. Interestingly, the Tar Heels are in the unusual position of rooting for Duke on Thursday because they need an opportunity for resume-building wins to get off the bubble. Such an opportunity could come Friday for North Carolina, should it and Duke advance.
Duke’s injury woes against Georgia Tech alone are staggering with Selection Sunday just days away. Earlier in the game, junior forward Maliq Brown also suffered an injury in an apparent aggravation of a nagging shoulder injury. He has also been ruled out for the game.
Flagg is the first major conference freshman to lead his team in all five major statistical categories since Ben Simmons did so for LSU in 2015-16, underscoring his irreplaceable production.
However, Duke’s roster aside from Flagg is far from barren. There are four other five-star prospects on Duke’s current roster including two other projected lottery picks for 2025 led by guard Kon Knueppel, the team’s second-leading scorer, and center Khaman Maluach, a 7-foot-2 big man who is second on the team in rebounding and blocks.
The big question with Flagg is of course how much, if at all, the injury lingers, and to what extent it may impact him. He was able to walk back to the bench from the locker room area while only slightly favoring his ankle, which could in theory bode well for his future availability as Duke marches into the postseason as one of the favorites to win the NCAA championship. Championship odds for Duke in some places went from +300 to +770 in a matter of minutes in the wake of Flagg’s injury, before resettling at +350 when cameras showed him walking without a severe limp.
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