Duke's Cooper Flagg's X-Rays Negative After Sprained Ankle Injury at ACC Tournament

Duke faced a major scare in its ACC Tournament quarterfinal game against Georgia Tech on Thursday after star freshman Cooper Flagg went down with an ankle injury late in the first half and was ruled out for the remainder of the game.

Blue Devils head coach John Scheyer told reporters after Duke's 78-70 win that Flagg underwent X-rays that came back negative.

Scheyer added that Flagg is "a long shot" to play in the remainder of the ACC Tournament.

"I am going to have to be convinced by everybody in the locker room that he should go back and play," Scheyer said.

Flagg was injured when he went up for a rebound but landed on the foot of another player. Rob Dauster of The Field of 68 reported that he was helped to the locker room without putting any weight on his left leg.

Flagg was later seen in a wheelchair as he was being transported through the locker room area:

After being ruled out, Flagg was able to walk back to the bench under his own power to support his teammates in the second half:

Prior to the injury, Flagg was in the midst of a difficult first half against a motivated Georgia Tech team. He was limited to two points on 1-of-7 shooting from the field and missed all three of his attempts from beyond the arc. He added four rebounds, two steals and a block. The Blue Devils fell behind by as many as 14 points before ending the half on a 12-5 run as the Yellow Jackets took a 31-26 lead into the locker room.

In addition to Flagg going down, Duke lost junior big man Maliq Brown early after he aggravated a shoulder injury. Scheyer added after the game that Brown suffered a dislocated shoulder and was transported to the hospital.

Flagg is one of the front-runners for National Player of the Year and the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA draft amid his stellar freshman campaign. During the regular season, he led the Blue Devils to a 28-3 record and a No. 1 ranking in the AP Top 25. He ranked first on the team with averages of 19.4 points, 7.6 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.3 blocks.

Without Flagg in the lineup, Duke relied on the backcourt duo of Kon Knueppel and Tyrese Proctor to lead the offense and avoided a monumental upset that would've hurt their position in the upcoming NCAA tournament.