Cooper Flagg injured in Duke basketball’s ACC Tournament opener. Here’s what we know
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2025 ACC Men’s Tournament
Follow all the action from the 2025 ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament in Charlotte, NC, with updated scores, standings, game recaps and analysis from the team of writers from the News & Observer, Charlotte Observer and The State.
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Update: For Cooper Flagg’s status on Friday, March 14, see this story.
Duke was already getting a test from Georgia Tech, and the Blue Devils had to finish the win without their best player and one of their best defenders.
Star freshman Cooper Flagg slipped and fell under the basket with 2:46 to play in the first half of Duke’s 78-70 ACC quarterfinal win Thursday and had to be helped to the Duke bench. He later left for the locker room with the assistance of two teammates. Flagg had two points and four rebounds in 15 minutes of action.
A social media post and television footage showed Flagg in a wheelchair in an arena hallway with his left shoe and sock removed as he went to be checked out.
Though he was ruled out of the game, Flagg returned to the Duke bench early in the second half in his regular sock and shoe, with no visible boot or brace.
Duke head coach Jon Scheyer told reporters postgame that Flagg was examined during the contest and that X-rays came back negative — which “is great,” he said. The next phase is about managing the pain and swelling that is sure to come once the adrenaline fades from the 18-year-old phenom.
Scheyer made it clear that the evidence would have to be quite persuasive for him to play Flagg on Friday. His exact words: “A long shot, a real long shot.”
“To be honest with you, I would have to be convinced by everybody in the locker room when I go back there that he should play,” Scheyer said. “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 (NCAA) 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.”
Duke also said at halftime of Thursday’s contest that forward Maliq Brown would not return. Brown, one of Duke’s best defenders, left the game earlier in the first half after appearing to re-injure his left shoulder. Brown returned Saturday at North Carolina after missing four games.
Scheyer said Brown re-dislocated his shoulder and that the stretcher was brought out for him to help ease his pain and that he is at a local hospital undergoing further treatment. He, similarly, did not sound optimistic about Brown’s return for the rest of the ACC Tournament — though he added that he’d rather not speculate in Brown’s case.
“Obviously, he’s going to miss time no matter what,” Scheyer said. “I mean, this is going to be — is there a chance at some point? I would hope so. But my main concern is just seeing him in such pain. I would hate to speculate without really knowing.”
Duke, which missed its first 13 3-point attempts and trailed 31-26 at the half, opened the second half on a 12-0 run to take control and advance to face the winner of Thursday’s second game between North Carolina and Wake Forest.
“Really my message was to do simple,” Scheyer said. “Sometimes you see Maliq go out, Cooper go out, and you feel like you have to really make up for it with amazing plays and offense and scoring, when in reality, you need to do your job.
“For us, I thought we just did simple a lot better in the second half, guarding the ball, being in the right positioning, simple plays on offense.
“That was my biggest thing. Just to do simple. That was it.”
This story was originally published March 13, 2025 at 12:58 PM with the headline "Cooper Flagg injured in Duke basketball’s ACC Tournament opener. Here’s what we know."
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