The No. 1 seed Duke Blue Devils are bringing the star back to the court to start the NCAA tournament.
Cooper Flag is not designated as an injury and will work for Duke against No. 16 Mount St. Mary's at Lenovo Center in Raleigh, North Carolina on Friday.
The expected No. 1 pick of the 2025 NBA Draft, Flag has been heading for the Blue Devils since the ACC quarterfinals.
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Duke Blue Devils forward Cooper Flag will face the North Carolina Tar Heels at Spectrum Center in the first half. (Imaginary of Jim Dedmon-Immagn)
But Flag says New York Post On Thursday, he said he “is really confident in going 100%” in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
“I had an MRI, an X-ray, and both looked really good. So from then on, I was just the pain tolerance type of thing and got the recovery and treatment I needed.”
Duke Great Sescully praises Cooper Flag ahead of the NCAA Turance: “Smart beyond his years”
Flag added that he is building his ankles again with “back to practice and jumping” and individual training on the sides. He had full practice on Wednesday, but in the end he made sure he was ready to go.
This is where injuries were the flag trend, but when it first happened, Blue Devils fans were holding their collective breath as their national title hopes had a big impact if they couldn't play in the tournament.
Duke Blue Devils Forward Cooper Flag responds to the second half of Dean E. Smith Center. (Image of Bob Donnan-Immagn)
However, Duke still managed to win the ACC tournament. This included the absence of forward forward Malik Brown, who still deals with dislocated shoulders.
Head coach John Shayer also noted that Flag wanted to play in the ACC title game, but Duke decided to stop him. He actually saw the star student, so Shayer explained that his return to play was “about his ability to move properly.”
“If he was compensated, he wasn't going to play,” Shayer explained Thursday. But he hasn't compensated.
“We've slowly built him up and really made him the right way, but he's ready to go.”
Duke Blue Devils Guard Cooper Flag before the match against Syracuse Orange at the JMA Wireless Dome. (Rich Burns Imagnic image)
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Flag was a consensus All-American during the 2024-25 campaign, and was his current favourite for winning Player of the Year after an average of 18.9 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 1.5 steel and 1.3 blocks.
Flagg is the team leader for all of these categories.
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