NBA Draft

Cooper Flagg’s Status for Duke-Mount St. Mary’s

Checking in on Cooper Flagg’s status for the NCAA Tournament.

Derek Parker

Mar 20, 2025; Raleigh, NC, USA; Duke Blue Devils forward Cooper Flagg (2) respond to a question during the NCAA pre tournament press conference at Lenovo Center. Mandatory Credit: Zachary Taft-Imagn Images
Mar 20, 2025; Raleigh, NC, USA; Duke Blue Devils forward Cooper Flagg (2) respond to a question during the NCAA pre tournament press conference at Lenovo Center. Mandatory Credit: Zachary Taft-Imagn Images / Zachary Taft-Imagn Images
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Duke superstar Cooper Flagg has been one of the most impactful players in the nation, despite being just a true freshman.

His 18.9 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.3 blocks per game earned him a likely National Player of the Year bid. And his overall two-way play at 6-foot-9 is sure to make him the 2025 NBA Draft’s No. 1 pick in June.

So when he went down with an ankle injury versus Georgia Tech in the ACC Tournament, basketball fans everywhere held their breath. To that point, Duke was the top-ranked team in the entire nation — boasting a 28-3 regular season record — and set to make a deep NCAA Tournament run with Flagg as its centerpiece.

Luckily, it appears Flagg has avoided major injury, as he’s set to take the court for the Blue Devils against Mount St. Mary’s at 1:50 p.m. CT on Friday.

It wasn’t a given that Flagg would play early in March Madness, having injured himself just a week ago. It was thought that he might sit in the round of 64 given the Blue Devils were still able to win the ACC sans Flagg, but it appears he’ll be a full go.

"I'm feeling pretty good," Flagg said in a Thursday press conference. "We have an incredible training staff, we've been working through the steps of getting back to 100%.”

“He looked really good Wednesday,’’ Duke head coach Jon Scheyer said of Flagg’s pre-Tournament practice. “We built him up slowly and really progressed him the right way, but he’s ready to go.”

There’s no March outcome where Flagg doesn’t land as the top pick, as his biggest competition in Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey — who are still far behind — failed to make the competition altogether.

Still, a deep run in March could cement Flagg’s legacy as one of the better Duke one-and-done’s to pass through the program.

The battle between Duke and Mount St. Mary’s will stream on CBS.

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Derek Parker
DEREK PARKER

Derek Parker covers the National Basketball Association, and has brought On SI five seasons of coverage across several different teams. He graduated from the University of Central Oklahoma in 2020, and has experience working in print, video and radio.

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