Cooper Flagg had always dreamed of being a part of March Madness.
A sprained ankle he got last week wasn’t going to stop him from chasing that dream for Duke’s freshman star.
“I mean, this is something that I’ve dreamed about since I was 6, 7 years old, watching every single year with my family, my friends,” Flagg said.
In other words, he wasn’t going to miss the first-round game for the top-seeded Blue Devils against 16-seed Mount St. Mary’s on Friday unless he was on crutches, in a cast, or couldn’t even stand on his left ankle.
He had missed the last two games because of an injury from the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament but looked comfortable and unfazed in his NCAA Tournament debut.
Flagg ended the game with 14 points, seven rebounds, four assists, and two blocks in 22 minutes, leading the team with a plus-31 before finishing early with the game already won.
“Honestly for me, after watching the whole ACC Tournament, it was more of just like a plan to just be ready for this game, and we just put a plan in place,” Flagg said. “We have phases, a strategy of just getting back, getting prepared, and being ready.”
The 6-foot-9 Flagg is a possible No. 1 overall NBA draft pick and was chosen unanimously as an Associated Press first-team All-American. He has an all-around game that makes him a game-changing player both as a scorer and a playmaker.
At the age of 18, Cooper Flagg is already a key player for the Blue Devils
Duke needs him if they want to win their sixth national championship. Even though they were expected to win easily against a weaker opponent, there was still a lot riding on what Flagg could do on the court.
The good news for Duke was that Flagg — who was greeted by loud cheers and a call of “Cooooooooop!” during introductions — quickly showed what he could do.
His first basket came after he received a pass from Tyrese Proctor and made a shot while being fouled by Xavier Lipscomb, causing Flagg to fall to the floor. He landed with his fists clenched and his arms in a light flex, a move he often uses to celebrate, then nodded as if the contact was his way of getting into the game, less than two minutes into the match.
Duke players in the 2nd halfA few minutes later, he made a backdoor cut and dunked the ball after receiving a pass from Patrick Ngongba. “I thought he looked pretty good,” freshman teammate Kon Knueppel said. “He was sharp.”
Flagg’s every move was closely watched by his home-state fans, his teammates, and coach Jon Scheyer.
“The biggest thing for me was him not pacing, I didn’t want him to pace,” Scheyer said. “Then obviously making sure he was moving, where he wasn’t off-balance or favoring one leg or the other.”
Flagg left the game for the final time at the 10:53 mark with Duke ahead by 32 points. He spent the last few minutes hopping around, laughing, and cheering on the players finishing the game.
“We were ready for him to play more,” Scheyer said. “But I think the way it worked out obviously was really good.”
Flagg got hurt when he rolled his ankle after his foot hit a Georgia Tech player’s foot as he came down for a rebound in the ACC quarterfinals last Thursday. He watched the rest of the tournament from the bench alongside versatile defender Maliq Brown, who got a shoulder injury just before Flagg’s.
However, Flagg was healthy enough to climb the ladder and cut a piece of the net after Duke won the title last weekend.
Scheyer said Flagg had used an underwater treadmill in the days following the injury. Flagg had said Thursday that he was ready to play after returning to full practice on Wednesday.
That’s why Flagg’s nervousness on Friday had nothing to do with his ankle.
“I didn’t have any doubts in my ankle at all,” he said. “But I definitely had some jitters. Like I said, this is something I’ve dreamed about since I was a little kid.”
