Marvin Bagley III to Return from 4-Game Knee Injury Absence vs. Syracuse

Duke freshman forward Marvin Bagley III will play against Syracuse on Saturday after missing four games with a knee injury, according to Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports.

Bagley leads the Blue Devils in both scoring and rebounding this season.

The Phoenix-area native is a leading candidate for the Naismith College Player of the Year award with per-game averages of 21.2 points and 11.4 rebounds. He is also converting 59.6 percent of his attempts from the field and 35.4 percent of his tries from long range.

Despite Bagley's importance to the team, the 23-5 Blue Devils went a 4-0 during his absence with victories over Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, Clemson and Louisville.

With an 11-4 record in the ACC, Duke is second in standings behind only the Virginia Cavaliers, who are 14-1.

Senior guard Grayson Allen produced significantly more when Bagley was on the shelf. Moving forward, a key for Duke will be to get Allen and Bagley playing at a high level at the same time.

Now that Bagley is back, sophomore forward Javin DeLaurier will likely transition back to a bench role.