Will injury to Duke star Cooper Flagg affect NCAA tournament seeding?

• Duke basketball star Cooper Flagg injured his ankle in the Blue Devils’ first round win over Georgia Tech. He will likely miss the rest of the ACC tournament.
• Flagg, a 18-year-old freshman, was named a Naismith Player of the Year semifinalist on Friday, March 14.
• Duke is expected to be a number one seed in the NCAA tournament, but the selection committee may adjust depending on the severity of Flagg’s injury.

---

Full Story

Less than a week before the men’s NCAA tournament, there could be a major shakeup at the top of the bracket due to one injured player. Eighteen-year-old Duke freshman Cooper Flagg, who was named a semifinalist for the National Player of the Year award Friday.

How will Flagg’s injury affect the Blue Devils?

The honor for Flagg came one day after he injured his ankle in the first half of Duke’s ACC tournament matchup with Georgia Tech. It’s injury that could keep Flagg out of the first round of the NCAA tournament next week and thus change the thinking by the tournament selection committee.

However, it’s not just Flagg’s injury that has the potential number one seed worried about their NCAA chances for a deep run. Their defensive star Maliq Brown re-injured his shoulder in the same game, Thursday, March 14, and is out indefinitely.

“It hurt y’know, just to see one of my brothers go down, we just want to see each other play ball. This is what we love to do so when someone goes down it’s hard. Same thing with Maliq so we just told each other ‘We got you, we’re gonna pick you up.'” Duke guard Isaiah Evans said.

What was head coach Jon Scheyer’s reaction?

The Blue Devils came back from a 9-point first half deficit to beat the Yellow Jackets by 8. Friday night, March 14, the Blue Devils will matchup with archrival North Carolina in the ACC semifinals. The Tar Heels need a win to secure a tournament bid, but Duke head coach Jon Scheyer isn’t thinking about Friday’s game when it comes to his star player, he’s thinking about next week.

“It’s not worth it, it just isn’t,” Scheyer said. “Again, he was swollen already. It’s not about being ready to go tomorrow (Friday, March 14). That’s not the most important thing for us. We gotta see if we can get him right for this run that we can make in the (NCAA) tournament.”

X-rays on Flagg’s ankle were negative, but the question is how fast can he heal fro a severe sprain, and if he does get on the court how effective will he be? The likely number one pick in the NBA draft is averaging 18 points, 8.5 rebounds and 6.5 assists this season leading Duke to a 29-3 record.

Has this scenario happened before?

There is also an eerie precedent for one of the top seeds losing their best player right before the NCAA tournament. In 2000, Cincinnati was No. 1 in the country and led by National Player of the Year Kenyon Martin. Martin broke his leg in the conference tournament and was lost for the season. Instead of being the #1 overall seed the committee dropped Cincy to a 2 seed. The team lost in the 2nd round of the tournament.

Flagg’s injury is not as severe as a broken leg, but he could miss significant time. The committee will weigh that possibility ahead of the Selection Show, which airs on Sunday, March 16, at 6 p.m. EST.