This year's NCAA Tournament appears to be the future of Cooper Flag.
The senior vice president of NCAA men's basketball card gambit revealed on Saturday that Flag, 18, will be available for Blue Devils ahead of the March insanity.
“What we understand from the communications between Duke and the ACC is that Cooper Flag will be available for the NCAA tournament, so don't expect it to affect the seed,” Gavitt said during the CBS broadcast. “He's not just serious injuries, he's tracking other injuries from other teams.
“Player availability has always been a concern and consideration, and can affect seeds, especially if players are unable to play in the NCAA tournament.”
Flag suffered an ankle injury during Duke's ACC tournament quarterfinal match against Georgia Tech, forcing him to cheer from the bystanders of the Blue Devils' 74-71 victory, which won Friday 74-71 over North Carolina.
Despite Flagg's X-rays eventually returning to negative, ACC Player of the Year was ruled out at Saturday's conference championship with Louisville.
Duke is also downing junior Malik Brown after the ACC title collided with a shoulder injury.
Head coach John Shayer said injuries can keep Brown out for quite some time.
After Friday's victory over the Tar Heels, Shayer told reporters that the team is working to make sure FLAGG is ready for March Madness.
“as far as [Flagg] Go on, he's getting better,” Shayer said. “Ankle sprain. All the imaging has returned to negative. But he did it pretty good sprain. It's a good sprain. I'm not breaking the news. He's not going to play [in the ACC title game]. He can't play. But our goal is to prepare him for the NCAA tournament. But this weekend we need to see the swelling and what he can do. ”
Flag is the No. 1 pick expected in the 2025 NBA Draft and is a favorite to win the wooden award given to the best college basketball player every season.
