Cooper Flagg injury: Jim Boeheim believes Duke star should play in ACC Tournament 'if he can'

As the longtime head coach at Syracuse, Jim Boeheim has dealt with his fair share of injury situations. Now, in his post-coaching life as an ESPN analyst, the 80-year-old Boeheim believes injured Duke superstar freshman Cooper Flagg should play in the remaining ACC Tournament game “if he can play.”

Flagg suffered a left ankle injury late in the first half and was ruled out for the second half off Thursday’s 78-70 win over 8th-seeded Georgia Tech in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament. If the 6-foot-9 freshman is cleared to return to play as No. 1-ranked Duke (29-3) advances to Friday night’s ACC Tournament semifinal against the winner between Wake Forest and North Carolina, the former Syracuse coach believes he shouldn’t be held back.

“If he can play, you play him. If there’s a doubt in you mind that it’s bothering him, then he doesn’t play,” Boeheim said on ESPN’s coverage of the ACC Tournament. “But Duke’s capable of winning this tournament without him, but it’d be a lot easier if he’s there. I just think going forward to the (NCAA) Tournament, you want him to be tournament-ready, and the best way to get tournament-ready is to have him play. If he’s capable of playing. But you’re going to err on the conservative side with Cooper Flagg.”

With 2:46 remaining in the first half, and just minutes after fellow Blue Devils forward Maliq Brown left the floor after re-injuring his dislocated left shoulder, Flagg appeared to roll his left ankle while coming down with a defensive rebound and immediately hit the floor, writhing in pain. Flagg would be taken to the Duke locker room in a wheelchair for X-rays, but would return to the Blue Devils’ bench under his own power, though was eventually ruled out with a left ankle injury.

Prior to his injury, Flagg was struggling through a 1-of-7 shooting start for just 2 first-half points before leaving the court Thursday. It was a shockingly low stat line for how good his year has been.

Along with being named the ACC Player of the Year and ACC Rookie of the Year, and an All-ACC First Team selection, Flagg is considered the frontrunner for National Player of the Year honors as well as National Freshman of the Year while averaging 19.4 points on 49.4-percent shooting — including 37.7-percent from 3-point range — along with 7.6 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.5 steals, and 1.3 blocks per game this season.