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Duke freshman Cooper Flagg, the projected No. 1 overall prospect in the 2025 NBA Draft, expects to play in the Blue Devils' first-round 2025 March Madness Tournament opener against Mount St. Mary's on Friday (March 21), despite suffering an ankle injury during the first half of the ACC Tournament last week.
"We've been working through the steps of just getting back to 100 percent, and I feel very good," Flagg said on Thursday (March 20) via ESPN. "I'm very confident moving forward."
Flagg, 18, fell awkwardly during a defensive rebound and was grabbing his left ankle on the ground before being helped up by his teammates and hobbling off the court with 2:46 remaining in the first half. Duke, the top-ranked team in the ACC tournament, was trailing eight-seed Georgia Tech, 26-17, at the time, having already lost forward Maliq Brown after he re-injured his shoulder, but rallied back to win the game and the ACC Championship, defeating Louisville, 73-62, in the final round last Saturday (March 15).
Flagg averaged 19.4 points, 7.6 rebounds and 4.2 assists during his freshman season, shooting 49.4% from the field. The Maine native entered his collegiate career as the unanimous No. 1 overall prospect for the 2024 national recruiting cycle, according to the 247Sports Composite, which averages rankings from the industry's top recruiting websites.
Duke finished the 2024-25 season with a 28-3 (19-1 ACC) record, its best under former player turned head coach Jon Scheyer, who succeeded retired five-time NCAA champion Mike Krzyzewski in 2022, and secured the No. 1 ranking in the East Region.