Will Cooper Flagg play for Duke basketball in NCAA Tournament on Friday? Latest update

As scary as Cooper Flagg’s injury looked when his left ankle bent awkwardly one week ago, the malady won’t keep Duke’s superstar freshman from playing in the NCAA Tournament.

The 6-9 all-American forward will be available, and possibly return to the starting lineup, when the Blue Devils, the No. 1 seed in the East Region, face No. 16 seed Mount St. Mary’s on Friday at 2:50 p.m. at Lenovo Center.

“I’m feeling pretty good,” Flagg said Thursday. “We have an incredible team, incredible training staff, so we’ve been working through the steps of just getting back, getting to 100% and I feel very good. I’m very confident.”

Flagg injured his ankle in the first half of Duke’s 78-70 ACC Tournament quarterfinal win over Georgia Tech on March 13. Initially unable to bear weight on his ankle, and briefly moved around the arena in a wheelchair, Flagg had an X-ray that showed no broken bones.

The next two nights, as Duke beat North Carolina and Louisville to claim the ACC championship, Flagg was not in uniform. He watched the game from the bench and celebrated during the games with his teammates. Wearing sneakers and walking without a noticeable limp, he even carefully climbed a ladder to cut down the nets Saturday night following the title game.

Duke coach Jon Scheyer said Saturday night his expectation was Flagg would be able to play in the NCAA Tournament, but he didn’t specify if that would for the first weekend or second weekend of games.

Thursday, school officials removed any doubt, saying he’ll see action against Mount Saint Mary’s (23-12) on Friday.

Flagg said he worked his way back during this week, taking part in a full practice for the first time on Wednesday.

“It was kind of like a build up of jumping back into practice, getting back to 100%,” Flagg said. “Doing some individual things, some with the coaches on the side, and then I was back in full practice yesterday. So I mean, I feel really good. I’m really confident about 100%.”

Scheyer said Duke’s approach with Flagg was to ensure he couldn’t injure himself more by returning to quickly.

“For us, this is about him being able to move properly,” Scheyer said Thursday. “He wasn’t going to play if he was compensating. Look, an ankle sprain, to say he’s 100 percent tomorrow, he has to work through that a little bit still. But he’s not compensating.”

The projected No. 1 pick in this summer’s NBA Draft, Flagg leads Duke in scoring (18.9), rebounding (7.5), assists (4.1), steals (1.5) and blocked shots (1.2) per game.

That said, Duke still beat two NCAA Tournament teams, UNC and Louisville, without him last weekend.

Freshman guard Kon Knueppel, named the ACC Tournament’s most valuable player, said the Blue Devils learned things about themselves as a team through the experience.

“Without having Coop,” Knueppel said, “we had to get a lot more off-ball movement and going to get guys open. I think a lot of that helped us offensively and could make us more dangerous going forward.”

Flagg wanted to return to action in Charlotte. Scheyer said Duke did the right thing holding him out.

“We built him up slowly and really progressed him the right way, but he’s ready to go,” Scheyer said. “In his mind, he was ready last weekend, but he wasn’t. He wasn’t. But he’s been itching to get out there. I think that says a lot about who he is because a lot of guys would be more patient or not as anxious to get out there. That’s just not the way he’s wired, his family, everybody with them.”

Maliq Brown shoulder injury update

While Duke is grateful to have Flagg back, the Blue Devils will continue to play without junior forward Maliq Brown as he rehabilitates his injured left shoulder. Brown dislocated his shoulder during the same Georgia Tech game where Flagg suffered his ankle injury.

It was the second time in four weeks Brown felt his left shoulder pop out of its socket during a game. He missed four games, sitting out for about three weeks, after initially injuring the shoulder Feb. 17 at Virginia. After the injury in the Georgia Tech game, Brown was taken to nearby Presbyterian Hospital in Charlotte for treatment to get the shoulder back in place.

Scheyer said there’s no firm timetable as to when Brown could return.

“Look, he wants to do whatever he can to get back and have a chance to play,” Scheyer said. “I’m lucky to be coaching all these guys where they have that attitude. I don’t know if that’s going to happen, but that’s his mindset, that’s our mindset to do everything we can to just give it a chance if we can continue to progress in this tournament.”

This story was originally published March 20, 2025 at 12:39 PM with the headline "Will Cooper Flagg play for Duke basketball in NCAA Tournament on Friday? Latest update."

Steve Wiseman

The News & Observer

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Steve Wiseman was named Raleigh News & Observer and Durham Herald-Sun sports editor in May 2025. He covered Duke athletics, beginning in 2010, prior to his current assignment. In the Associated Press Sports Editors national contest, he placed in the top 10 in beat writing in 2019, 2021 and 2022, breaking news in 2019, event coverage in 2025 and explanatory writing in 2018. Before coming to Durham in 2010, Steve worked for The State (Columbia, SC), Herald-Journal (Spartanburg, S.C.), The Sun Herald (Biloxi, Miss.), Charlotte Observer and Hickory (NC) Daily Record covering beats including the NFL’s Carolina Panthers and New Orleans Saints, University of South Carolina athletics and the S.C. General Assembly. He’s won numerous state-level press association awards. Steve graduated from Illinois State University in 1989.