Duke men’s basketball fans breathed a collective sigh of relief on Thursday afternoon when the Blue Devils announced that freshman phenom Cooper Flagg (sprained ankle) would be active for the first round of the NCAA Tournament, but head coach Jon Scheyer did not bear equally good news for junior forward Maliq Brown.
Brown, in his first year with the program after two seasons with Syracuse, dislocated his shoulder during the ACC Tournament quarterfinals against Georgia Tech last Thursday. It was the same shoulder he dislocated during a road game against Virginia in February, an injury that caused him to miss four games, and he was immediately taken back to the locker room.
Scheyer left the door open for Brown to return during March Madness, but he didn’t make it sound like a certainty either.”He wants to do whatever he can to get back and have a chance to play,” Scheyer said during the team’s introductory press conference on Thursday. “I don’t know if that’s going to happen, but that’s his mindset. That’s our mindset to do everything we can to just give it a chance if we can continue to progress in this tournament.”
If the Blue Devils make it through opening weekend, Brown would have two weeks of recovery time before a potential Sweet 16 matchup. Given that he missed two full weeks with the same injury before, that same timeline could bring him back for the Elite Eight or Final Four, but a second injury to the same area in such a short time frame could have a very different recovery process.
Duke gets its national title quest underway against Mount St. Mary’s at 2:50 p.m. Eastern time on Friday. Fans can watch on CBS or stream with Paramount+.
