By Brian Murphy, WRAL

Mount St. Mary’s Mountaineers
1Duke Blue Devils
CBS | Friday, March 21st 2:50 PM EDT

Duke star Cooper Flagg will play in the top-seeded Blue Devils’ NCAA Tournament opener in Raleigh against No. 16 seed Mount St. Mary’s.

Flagg missed the final two games of the ACC Tournament with a left ankle injury that he suffered in the quarterfinals against Georgia Tech.

Flagg said he was able to practice fully on Wednesday and that he was ready to go for the tournament. Duke announced that Flagg would be officially active.

“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 moving forward.”

Flagg said he was “pain free” and did not wear any noticeable tape or extra support on the left ankle during Duke’s practice.

Coop update –> active tomorrow vs. Mount St. Mary’s

🕺🕺🕺🕺👿 @Cooper_Flagg pic.twitter.com/V5fDURoYPF

— Duke Men’s Basketball (@DukeMBB) March 20, 2025

Flagg, a freshman, was named ACC Rookie of the Year and ACC Player of the Year. He is averaging 18.9 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game. A unanimous All-America first-team selection, Flagg is expected to be the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft.

“It was kind of like a build-up of jumping back into practice, getting back to 100%, doing some individual things with some of the coaches on the side,” Flagg said. “Then I was back at full practice yesterday. So I feel really good. I’m really confident about going 100% tomorrow.”

Duke forward Cooper Flagg brings the ball down court during practice, Thursday, March 20, 2025, in Raleigh, N.C., in preparation for the first round of the NCAA college basketball tournament. Duke plays Mount St. Mary’s Friday. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Duke coach Jon Scheyer said the team wouldn’t play Flagg if he was compromised in any way due the injury.

“The time off, I think, has helped him, his explosiveness, he’s getting a little bit of rest,” Scheyer said. “

Without Flagg, the Blue Devils rallied to beat Georgia Tech, held off UNC and then defeated Louisville for the ACC Tournament title.

“I hated every second of not being out on the court,” Flagg said. “But these guys made it really easy for me to kind of sit back and watch them execute, watch them go out there and dominate the other team. So they definitely made it easy on me.”

The Blue Devils were also without key reserve Maliq Brown, who dislocated his left shoulder in the Georgia Tech game. He didn’t play for the rest of the ACC Tournament. Brown did not participate in Friday’s open practice.

“It gave some guys some opportunities,” said Duke’s Kon Knueppel, who was the MVP of the ACC Tournament.

Knueppel said playing without Flagg, the focal point of the team’s offense, allowed the Blue Devils to develop certain things offensively and defensively that may help in the NCAA Tournament.

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

Scheyer said the Flagg injury gave his team an opportunity to show its toughness.

“For our other guys to step up in close games, to make big-time winning plays, I think that just gave us even more confidence with what we can do getting him back healthy,” he said.

Mount St. Mary’s defeated American 83-72 in the First Four on Wednesday night. If the Blue Devils advance, they would play Friday’s winner of No. 8 seed Mississippi State and No. 9 Baylor on Sunday at Lenovo Center in Raleigh.

Source: wralsportsfan.com