CHARLOTTE, NC — Duke freshman Cooper Flagg suffered an injury to his left ankle in the first half of Thursday’s ACC Tournament quarterfinal game vs. Georgia Tech. Flagg rolled his left ankle as he came down for a rebound and immediately grabbed the area of injury while writhing in pain on the court.
Flagg left the court following the injury and was taken back to the Duke locker room by two Blue Devil walk-ons. The National Player of the Year frontrunner was later seen in a wheelchair exiting an X-ray room inside the depths of Charlotte’s Spectrum Center.
X-rays were negative, according to Duke coach Jon Scheyer.
Flagg would later return to Duke’s bench but did not reenter to the game. The Blue Devils defeated the Yellow Jackets 78-70 and will play the winner of UNC-Wake Forest on Friday evening.
“I already know how he’s wired,” Scheyer said about Flagg’s status for Friday’s game and the rest of the tournament. “And look, to be honest with you, I would have to be, like, convinced by everybody in the locker room when I go back there that he should play. It’s not worth it. It just isn’t.
“Again, he was swollen already. It’s not about being ready to go tomorrow. That’s not the most important thing for us. We’ve got to see if we can get him right for this run that we can make in the tournament.
“But I would have to be really convinced that we should even consider seeing if he can go tomorrow. He may not be able to go anyway. He probably won’t be able to go anyway. But I think it’s a real long shot. A real long shot.”
Cooper Flagg injury update: X-rays negative after Duke star leaves ACC Tournament game with sprained ankle
Kyle Boone
Following the game, Duke players reacted in the locker room and at the podium to Flagg’s injury and what needs to happen if the star freshman cannot go.
Junior Duke guard Tyrese Proctor:
What’s the mindset with Flagg potentially out tomorrow?
“Same thing we have done all year, our defense travels, we got to eliminate points in the paint and see who we play after this game. The main thing is defense. Offense is going to come.”
What do you say In the huddle after Brown and Flagg do down?
“Just pick them up. We’ve had guys out all year, here and there. It’s not what you want, but we are playing for them now moving forward, depending on how they are.”
What was your initial reaction when you saw Flagg go down?
“It’s the same thing when I saw Maliq go down — you pray for them and hope bad Is (really) wrong with them… It’s our teammate, it’s our brother.”
Freshman Duke wing Kon Knueppel
On the adjustments without Flagg:
“It will be harder… We got to be tighter defensively. We might have to change how we play offense, obviously. But we’ll worry about that tonight… It’s a big adjustment. He’s the best player in the country.”
What was your reaction when you saw Flagg go down? What was going through your head?
“I didn’t see him go down right away. I saw him on the ground. I was upset, but there Is not really much time to react during the game.”
Graduate Duke guard Sion James
How do you handle the emotional rollercoaster of the injuries to Flagg and Brown?
“We handled it the same way we handled everything this year. Together and connected. We knew that there was going to be adversity throughout the tournament and that things weren’t going to go according to plan, but we stayed together, and I am proud of the guys for that.”
What was your reaction when you saw Flagg go down?
“Cooper is one of the toughest guys I know. We know that he will bounce back as soon as possible.”
Freshman Duke wing Isaiah Evans
What was going through your mind when you saw Cooper go down? What were you thinking? What was your reaction?
“Oh, man, it hurt just to see one of my brothers go down. We all just want to see each other play ball. This is what we love to do, so when someone goes down, it’s hard. Same thing with Maliq. We just told each other, we got you, we’re going to pick you up, and we got you.
What does it say about this team that you guys were able to — I think when Cooper went down, you were down nine, but that you were able to rally back and win this game?
“I think it just shows that we’re a real team. It’s not really about one person or two people. It’s about Duke. Duke is going to handle business all the time. That’s what we came here to do, we came here to play ball. No matter the circumstances, whatever happens throughout the game, we’re going to keep playing.”
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