Until Thursday morning, everything was going well for Cooper Flagg. Very well. He was the top candidate to be chosen as the best college basketball player of the season, appearing as the N°1 in several simulations for the upcoming NBA Draft and his team, Duke, was ranked N°1 a week before the start of the National Championship.
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But everything changed on Thursday afternoon in the final ACC Conference championship, when during the Duke vs. Georgia Tech game, he severely twisted his left ankle with 2:46 left to play in the first half.
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He had to be helped by two teammates to leave the court, he was visibly frustrated and after the game videos from social media showed him being wheeled in a wheelchair through the interior hallways of the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, where the tournament is taking place.
What will happen to Cooper Flagg’s future?
Despite the loss of their main player, Duke finally defeated Georgia Tech 78-70 and advanced to the semifinals. However, according to College Sportswire, Duke’s coach, Jon Scheyer, ruled out Flagg for tomorrow’s game (against the winner of North Carolina vs. Wake Forest).
The most serious issue for the “Blue Devils” is that the participation of the 2.06 meters tall, 22-year-old forward in the Men’s National Basketball Championship, popularly known as “March Madness”, which starts next Thursday, is also in doubt.
Duke has not won a championship since 2015, when they were still coached by the legendary coach Mike Krzyzewski. If Flagg cannot play in the tournament, the “Blue Devils” options are severely damaged.
Additionally, depending on the severity of the injury, it could also affect Copper Flagg’s evaluation heading into the NBA Draft, which will take place at the end of June. In several Mock Drafts, the Duke player is listed as a potential #1 pick, ahead of Dylan Harper from Rutgers, but the selection order of the teams is still unknown.