Duke's Jalen Johnson Will Travel, Suit Up for Virginia Tech Game

Coach K not sure if injured freshman will play

Duke freshman wing Jalen Johnson has returned to practice after missing close to a month with an injured foot.

“He did yesterday,” coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “Although we didn’t do much, except watch tape and do a little bit on Virginia Tech. But he had a workout with a few of the guys who didn’t get as many minutes. He felt good this morning.”

Johnson will travel to Virginia Tech and dress for Tuesday’s game, although Krzyzewski said he wasn’t sure if Johnson would play in the game.

“He will go on the trip, and he will suit up,” he said. “I’m not sure if we’ll play him yet. We have a little bit of time after this game to get him back into condition.”

Barring any COVID related schedule changes, Duke has a week before its next game, which would give Johnson time to work himself back into game shape.

“He’s got the medical go ahead to go forward, but it’s a matter of conditioning,” Krzyzewski said. “Just getting himself back on track.”

Duke also has another player recovering from injury—graduate transfer center Patrick Tape, who suffered a back injury in practice last week and has missed the last two games.

“Hopefully, during that time, we get Patrick back,” Krzyzewski said. “We really miss him. We don’t have any big guys. We can’t lose too many guys like that, even though the perimeter has done a good job, we need to get those guys back.”

Tape is not practicing and will not play against the Hokies.

“He’s not able to do anything,” Krzyzewski said. “He keeps showing improvement. It’s nothing you have to operate on. He does not have the flexibility yet of 100 percent. He keeps imp in that, but he’s not ready yet.”