No. 1 seed Duke Blue Devils is finding back his star in court to start the NCAA tournament.
Cooper Flag has no injury and will be active for Duke against number 16 Mount Saint Mary at Lenovo Center in Rale, Northern Carolina on Friday.
Flag, the estimated number 1 pick of 2025 NBA drafts, has been out for Blue Devils since the ACC quarterfinal, where he suffered an ankle injury against Georgia Tech.
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The Duke Blue Devils runs on the bench during the first half against the Northern Carolina Tar Heels at the Forward Cooper Flag Spectrum Center. (Gym deadmon
But Flag told the New York Post on Thursday that it is “really confident of going 100%in the first round of the NCAA tournament”.
“I had an MRI, X-ray, they both looked really good. So, since then it was just moving forward, pain-tolerance types, just recovery and treatment I needed.”
Duke Great Seth Curry praised Cooper Flag in front of NCAA Tantronment: ‘Wise Beyond Hiz Years’
Flag said he was again creating his ankle, “jumping back into practice” as well as personal workouts. He had a complete practice on Wednesday, which eventually confirmed that he was ready to leave.
This is the place where the injury was trending for the flag, but when it was initially, the Blue Devils fans were stopping their collective breath, as their national title expectations would have taken a big impact if he could not play in the tournament.
Duke Blue Devils Forward Cooper Flag Dean E. Smith reacts to the second half at the center. (Bob Donon-Imagon image)
However, Duke was still able to win the ACC tournament, including the absence of Malik Brown forward, which is still dealing with a disorganized shoulder.
Head coach John Sheer also said that the flag wanted to play in the ACC title game, but Duke decided to exclude him. Now that he has seen his star Pupil in practice, the stock explained that his return to play “was able to move properly about him.”
“He was not going to play if he was compensating,” Skare explained on Thursday, according to the post. “Look, no matter what (with) an ankle sprain … to say that he is 100% tomorrow, he has to work through it. But he is not compensating.
“We made him slowly and really pushed him forward, but he is ready to go.”
Duke Blue Devils Guard Flag before the game against Syracuse Orange at JMA Wireless Dome. (Rich Barns-Imagon image)
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During the 2024-25 campaign, the flag was unanimously all-American, as well as 18.9 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.5 assistance, 1.5 theft, and 1.3 blocks per game per game average to win the Player of the Year after average.
Flag is the team leader in each of those categories.
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