“What we perceive from communication with Duke and the ACC is that Cooper Flagg shall be accessible for the NCAA event,” Gavitt advised CBS Sports activities’ Seth Davis in an on-air interview on Saturday.
Flagg, 18, suffered a sprained ankle in the course of the first half of Duke’s ACC Event quarterfinal win over Georgia Tech on Thursday.
Head coach Jon Scheyer instantly dominated his 6-foot-9 star participant out for the rest of the event as a precaution. Duke is scheduled to play Louisville on Saturday evening within the convention title recreation.
“So far as [Flagg] goes, he is doing higher,” Scheyer advised reporters Friday (h/t ESPN). “Sprained ankle. All of the imaging got here again damaging. He sprained it fairly good, although… He cannot play… we have to see how this weekend goes with the swelling and what he can do.”
Flagg is expected to be the No. 1 overall selection on the 2025 NBA Draft, so updates on his well being, naturally, are going to be extremely scrutinized.
He is established a powerful legacy for himself within the sport lower than a 12 months into his collegiate profession.
Flagg broke the ACC’s freshman recreation scoring document (42 points) and is the favorite to win the John Picket Award, given to the game’s most excellent participant. He’s also the first ACC player in the past 25 years to document no less than 500 factors, 100 assists and 30 blocks in a season.
Averaging 18.9 factors per recreation (48.8 field goal percentage), 7.5 rebounds and 4.1 assists per recreation, Flagg is an indispensable asset in Duke’s offense.
The staff actually felt his absence on Friday, practically blowing a double-digit result in in-state rival North Carolina within the closing seconds of the ACC semifinal. Solely a crucial mistake by the Tar Heels allowed Duke to flee with the win.
No matter Saturday’s outcome, the Blue Devils are anticipated to be a high seed in March Insanity as soon as the event bracket is revealed on Choice Sunday.
With Flagg in Scheyer’s lineup, it should be actual laborious for any opponent to stop Duke from making its 18th look within the Last 4.
