Cooper Flagg injury update: Duke announces status of star freshman for NCAA Tournament

Duke’s Cooper Flagg is one of the biggest stories, both as one of the best players in the country and because of his status coming out of the ACC Tournament, and heading into the NCAA Tournament. Now, the latest is out regarding his availability for the opening weekend of March Madness.

Per the Blue Devils, Flagg is active for the start of their tournament run tomorrow against Mount St. Mary’s. Rather than waiting another game after his injury as some suggested, Duke appears ready to play Flagg in the Round of 64.

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

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

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

In speaking to the media this afternoon in Raleigh, Flagg confirmed that he’d be ready to go against the Mountaineers. That’s after being back after a week of rehab with him having practiced in full on Wednesday.

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

“Yeah, so, I mean, from the start of the week, it was kind of like a build-up of jumping back into practice, um, getting back to 100%. Doing some individual things with some of the coaches on the side. And then I was back in full practice yesterday,” Flagg added. “So, I mean, I feel really good. I’m really confident about going 100% tomorrow.”

Jon Scheyer later updated Flagg’s status at the press conference as well. He said his team had determined he was ready to retake the floor this week, despite the sprain still having an effect, with him wanting to now be back out there with the Blue Devils.

“Yeah, yeah, so Cooper, um, you know, for us? This is about him being able to move properly, you know. Like, he wasn’t going to play if he was compensating or if, um – look, no matter what, an ankle sprain? To say he’s 100% tomorrow is, you know – he was to work through that a little bit still. But he’s not compensating,” Scheyer said. “Actually, the time off, I think has helped him, his explosiveness just getting a little bit of rest…I think that’s the biggest thing. Then, the second thing, you have to make sure he goes against contact where he’s getting knocked off his, his base, is moving the right way without having it plan the way that he’s moving.

“He looked really good yesterday. He did contact. He’s built up – we built him up slowly and really progressed him the right way. But he’s, he’s ready to go. In his mind, he was ready last weekend but he wasn’t. He wasn’t. But he’s been itching to get out there and I think that says a lot about who he is.”

Flagg sprained his ankle in the team’s quarterfinal in the ACC Tournament last week on Thursday. He’d then sit out the rest of the event in the semifinals and championship with Duke winning it without him with victories over Georgia Tech, North Carolina, and Louisville.

Because of that, there’d been a thought that the Blue Devils, assuming he wasn’t fully back to himself yet, could rest Flagg in the opening round of the tournament as a No. 1 seed playing a No. 16 before playing him in the Round of 32 against either No. 8 Mississippi State or No. 9 Baylor. Instead, he’s ready enough to return to the court on Friday rather than waiting for Sunday.

Duke could’ve justified giving Flagg two more days if he wasn’t ready to play against Mount St. Mary’s. That said, this is a big development in how ready he’ll be to compete for the duration of the tournament for one of the favorites to win this national title.