Duke forward Cooper Flagg, center, celebrates after the Blue Devils beat Louisville to win the ACC tournament on Saturday in Charlotte, North Carolina. Flagg did not play in the game because of an ankle injury, but said he is ready to play in the NCAA tournament. Chris Carlson/Associated Press

As scary as Cooper Flagg’s injury looked when his left ankle bent awkwardly one week ago, the malady won’t keep Duke’s superstar freshman from playing in the NCAA Tournament.

The 6-9 All-American forward from Newport will be available, and possibly return to the starting lineup, when the Blue Devils, the No. 1 seed in the East Region, face No. 16 seed Mount St. Mary’s at 2:50 p.m. Friday at Lenovo Center.

“I’m feeling pretty good,” Flagg said Thursday. “We have an incredible team, incredible training staff, so we’ve been working through the steps of just getting back, getting to 100% and I feel very good. I’m very confident.”

Flagg injured his ankle in the first half of Duke’s 78-70 ACC Tournament quarterfinal win over Georgia Tech on March 13. Initially unable to bear weight on his ankle, and briefly moved around the arena in a wheelchair, Flagg had an X-ray that showed no broken bones.

 

The next two nights, as Duke beat North Carolina and Louisville to claim the ACC championship, Flagg was not in uniform. He watched the game from the bench and celebrated during the games with his teammates. Wearing sneakers and walking without a noticeable limp, he even carefully climbed a ladder to cut down the nets Saturday night following the title game.

Duke coach Jon Scheyer said Saturday night his expectation was Flagg would be able to play in the NCAA Tournament, but he didn’t specify if that would for the first weekend or second weekend of games.

Thursday, school officials removed any doubt, saying he’ll see action against Mount Saint Mary’s (23-12) on Friday.

Flagg said he worked his way back during this week, taking part in a full practice for the first time on Wednesday.

“It was kind of like a build up of jumping back into practice, getting back to 100%,” Flagg said. “Doing some individual things, some with the coaches on the side, and then I was back in full practice yesterday. So I mean, I feel really good. I’m really confident about 100%.”

Scheyer said Duke’s approach with Flagg was to ensure he couldn’t injure himself more by returning to quickly.

“For us, this is about him being able to move properly,” Scheyer said Thursday. “He wasn’t going to play if he was compensating. Look, an ankle sprain, to say he’s 100 percent tomorrow, he has to work through that a little bit still. But he’s not compensating.”

The projected No. 1 pick in this summer’s NBA Draft, Flagg leads Duke in scoring (18.9), rebounding (7.5), assists (4.1), steals (1.5) and blocked shots (1.2) per game.

That said, Duke still beat two NCAA Tournament teams, UNC and Louisville, without him last weekend.

Freshman guard Kon Knueppel, named the ACC Tournament’s most valuable player, said the Blue Devils learned things about themselves as a team through the experience.

“Without having Coop,” Knueppel said, “we had to get a lot more off-ball movement and going to get guys open. I think a lot of that helped us offensively and could make us more dangerous going forward.”

Flagg wanted to return to action in Charlotte. Scheyer said Duke did the right thing holding him out.

“We built him up slowly and really progressed him the right way, but he’s ready to go,” Scheyer said. “In his mind, he was ready last weekend, but he wasn’t. He wasn’t. But he’s been itching to get out there. I think that says a lot about who he is because a lot of guys would be more patient or not as anxious to get out there. That’s just not the way he’s wired, his family, everybody with them.”