Duke can win its ACC record 23rd men’s basketball conference championship on Saturday night.
The news isn’t all good for the top-seeded Blue Devils ahead of their clash with Louisville, though.
Duke will be without freshman phenom Cooper Flagg once again.
Flagg, who sprained his left ankle in a quarterfinal game against Georgia Tech, didn’t play in Duke’s semifinal win over North Carolina on Friday.
Blue Devils head coach Jon Scheyer confirmed Flagg’s status for the final after Friday’s game.
“As far as Cooper goes, he’s doing better,” Scheyer told reporters. “Sprained ankle, all the imaging came back negative. He sprained it pretty good, though. It’s a good sprain. I’m not breaking any news. He’s not going to play tomorrow. He can’t play.”
There is something a tad foreboding about those final words, “He can’t play.”
Duke will surely be a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament with a win Saturday, and will still be seeded highly even with a loss.
Flagg’s status could impact the mind of a tournament seeder or two, but more relevant than what seed Duke gets is whether he is on the court when the dance starts.
“Our goal is to have him ready for the tournament,” Scheyer said. “But we need to see how this weekend goes with the swelling and what he can do.”
Flagg wore a sweatsuit during Duke’s rivalry clash on Friday, and he walked on his own without any weight-bearing support.