During the first half of the No. 1 seed Duke Blue Devils’ ACC Tournament quarterfinal victory against the No. 8 seed Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, standout player Cooper Flagg suffered a damaged left ankle.
The injury happened after he went up for a rebound and seemed to twist his ankle while falling on a Georgia Tech player’s foot. With Duke sitting with a great 29-3 record and a top seed in the NCAA Tournament, many in the sport thought Flagg would not play the remainder of the tournament.
On Friday, college basketball analyst Adam Zagoria announced that Flagg will miss the team’s quarterfinal game against its fiercest rival, the No. 5 seed North Carolina Tar Heels. Even if Duke advances, the team’s anticipated No. 1 selection in the NBA draft is unlikely to return for the ACC Tournament.
Head coach John Scheyer told Brendan Marks of The Athletic that he would need a lot of persuasion to let Flagg play again before the tournament. “To be honest with you, I would have to be convinced by everyone in the locker room when I return that he should play,” Scheyer said. It is not worth it. “It’s just not.”
The Blue Devils will need a few players to step up to compensate for Flagg’s absence, since he leads the club in all five main statistical categories. Regardless of how they finish, they are expected to be selected as the top seed on Selection Sunday. ESPN’s Joe Lunardi presently sees them as the No. 1 seed in the East (Newark) area. Even without Flagg, the Blue Devils are scheduled to do business on Friday. ESPN BET has them as 6.5-point favorites over the Tar Heels.
