RALEIGH, N.C. — With just over 12 minutes left in the first half of Duke’s 93-49 rout of Mount St. Mary’s in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, Blue Devils star Cooper Flagg cut backdoor, caught a pass in stride, took two giant steps and elevated for a powerful slam.
What ankle injury?
Flagg, a 6-foot-9 freshman forward, sprained his ankle just over a week ago during the ACC Tournament, but he appeared fully healthy in top-seeded Duke’s dominant win at the Lenovo Center on Friday, finishing with 14 points (on 6-of-12 shooting), 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 blocks in 22 minutes.
“I’ve done a great job with the medical staff of preparing and just being ready,” Flagg said afterward. “So I already felt completely 100 percent and confident going into tonight’s game.”
As Duke coach Jon Scheyer said Thursday, Flagg had been “itching” to get back on the court. “A lot of guys would be more patient or not as anxious to get out there,” Scheyer said. “That’s just not the way he’s wired.”
Flagg has averaged 18.9 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 1.5 blocks and 1.2 steals this season, leading Duke in all five categories. He is the frontrunner to win National Player of the Year honors and projected to be the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA draft. Expectations could not have been higher, but Flagg somehow has lived up to the hype. As a result, Duke had one of the best seasons in program history, going 31-3 overall and 19-1 in the ACC. The Blue Devils won the ACC Tournament title despite Flagg being sidelined for the final two games.
The clash with the Mountaineers went about as well as it could have for the Blue Devils. Scheyer was prepared to play Flagg as many minutes were necessary, but Duke led 54-28 at halftime. Flagg was able to sit the last 10:53 of the contest.
Scheyer said there was no thought of holding out Flagg despite Duke being favored by 32.5 points. Once he was cleared, it was full steam ahead. “After watching the whole ACC Tournament, it was more of just a plan to be ready for this game,” Flagg said. “We put a plan in place. We had phases, a strategy of just getting back, getting prepared and being ready. So we just followed it step by step. I worked with our medical team really well, and they did a great job just getting me ready.”
“Our guys did a great job,” Scheyer said. “Even as he was coming back, he was in the pool a lot, underwater treadmill, just making sure his shape was still there. Frankly, it’s only been eight days. So I think for him, it’s not like he’s lost a ton of shape.”
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Making his March Madness debut, Flagg got his first bucket less than two minutes into the game on an and-one layup off a feed from 6-foot-6 junior guard Tyrese Proctor. Scheyer was mostly watching to make sure Flagg wasn’t pacing or favoring one of his legs as he moved. Check and check. In a five-minute span in the first half, Flagg had a thunderous dunk and two big rejections. “I didn’t think he looked like it, but you have some natural rust,” Scheyer said. “The game experience, I think, is really important to understand what the Tournament is like.”
Even with the strength of Flagg’s ankle in question a few days ago, Duke entered the Big Dance as the favorite to win the national championship. The team certainly looked the part Friday, shooting 50 percent from the field and recording 21 assists to just two turnovers. Proctor buried six three-pointers and had five assists. Khaman Maluach, a 7-foot-2 freshman center, had 11 points and 5 rebounds, while 6-foot-5 sophomore guard Caleb Foster added 12 points off the bench. “I thought we were great,” Proctor said. “We were poised, controlled the tempo of the game, just read what the defense gave us. I think we’re playing our best basketball when we all move the ball and get great looks.”
Duke faces ninth-seeded Baylor, which knocked off Mississippi State, in the second round Sunday. “We have to move on very quickly,” Scheyer said, “but it was really good to get our feet wet and understand what the tournament is all about.”
