Jahlil Okafor Injury: Updates on Duke Star's Ankle and Recovery

Jahlil Okafor, the newest Duke basketball superstar, is battling an ankle injury he sustained against North Carolina on Feb. 18. He was ruled out against Clemson on Feb. 21, but will play Wednesday vs. Virginia Tech.

Continue for updates.

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Okafor Will Start vs. Virginia Tech

Wednesday, Feb. 25

Duke announced that Okafor will start vs. Virginia Tech Wednesday night.

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Okafor Out of Boot, Hopes to Play Wednesday

Monday, Feb. 23

Mike Krzyzewski spoke on a conference call on Monday, telling reporters that he's hopeful that Okafor will be ready to play for Wednesday's game vs. Virginia Tech (via Taft Coghill Jr. of The Free Lance-Star).

Krzyzewski also said that Okafor is out of the boot and that the team hopes to get him running at practice, via Stephen Weisman of The Durham Herald-Sun.

On Feb. 21, Duke announced Okafor would not play on Saturday against Clemson. After the game, Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv reported that there's nothing structurally wrong with Okafor's ankle and he hopes to play against the Hokies.

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Okafor Injures Ankle vs. UNC, Returns to Game

Wednesday, Feb. 18

Okafor landed awkwardly on his ankle after taking a shot in the first half of Wednesday's North Carolina-Duke matchup. ESPN's Jeff Goodman reported from the scene at Cameron Indoor Stadium: 

Deadspin's Timothy Burke provided a picture of the awkward landing: 

However, he would only miss a few minutes of action before returning at the end of the first half, per Goodman:

After the game, Okafor told Steve Wiseman of The Herald-Sun, "I was scared. I felt it pop, and it started burning right away. I was scared more than anything."

ABC11's Charlie Mickens added that Okafor left Cameron Indoor in a walking boot.

Krzyzewski also added, according to Wiseman, "It was a gutty performance by him. We'll see if he's going to be ready for Saturday."

Entering the 2014-15 season with ridiculous amounts of hype, Okafor seemed like one of the few players who would live up to it. His first exposure was in an exhibition game against Livingstone on November 4. He scored 15 points and grabbed five rebounds. 

The 6'10" Okafor was named to The Associated Press preseason All-American team, the only freshman to be bestowed that honor. He was getting all this recognition before playing in a meaningful game, so expectations were sky high. 

According to ESPN Stats & Info, Okafor became the third freshman ever—all since 2010—to be a preseason All-American:

In fact, Krzyzewski told ESPN.com that he expects Okafor to be one-and-done before taking his talents to the NBA:

"

We won't have him long. We'll have him this year and then he'll be one of the top [NBA] picks. ...

He's really one of the great kids. He's 6-10, about 265. He has huge hands. So the ball is small in his hands. Part of that hurts him some because he's accustomed to rebounding with one hand, and rebounding is better with two hands. But scoring-wise he's able to do it. He's got incredible touch and really good feet.

"

Lucky for him and potential lottery teams, Okafor's absence wasn't long and shouldn't have a lasting impact moving forward.

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