For the second time in as many Duke basketball regular season games this season, freshman forward Cooper Flagg has experienced cramping in the second half.
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The latest instance, as the No. 7-ranked Blue Devils (2-0, 0-0 ACC) were well on their way to notching a 100-58 blowout home win over the Army Black Knights (1-1, 0-0 Patriot League) on Friday night, led to third-year Duke basketball head coach Jon Scheyer confirming to the media that his staff must quickly figure out how to prevent the phenom’s recurring in-game setback.
“We got to help him, you know,” Scheyer noted. “We go to help him. I’m not happy about it for him. We got to help him, and we will.
“And right after this, I can promise you I’m gonna be meeting [with the staff]. I don’t care if it’s all night. We can’t have that happen. Bottom line.
“I thought he had a good [game] too. That first half, he was really just controlling the whole game with his rebounding, his passing, his playmaking, his scoring. He was assertive shooting the ball.
“So, [the cramping] can’t happen. I’m not happy with it. And we’re going to fix that.”
Sure, the 17-year-old Flagg, still the projected No. 1 overall 2025 NBA Draft pick, was impressive beyond his years again. He tallied 13 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, two steals, and three blocks across his 25 minutes on the floor.
1st double-double for Coop in his 2nd game (13 pts, 11 rebs)
65-36 😈 | 11:28 to go pic.twitter.com/nVgxKjYGtp
— Duke Men’s Basketball (@DukeMBB) November 9, 2024
That said, the Blue Devils are now set to face a highly anticipated Champions Classic clash against the No. 23 Kentucky Wildcats at 9 p.m. ET Tuesday (ESPN).
“It’s all of us,” Scheyer added about figuring out a solution to Flagg’s cramping. “It’s me. It’s our coaches. It’s our medical team. It’s our sports performance. It’s all of us. We got to help him because he’s doing everything he needs to in preparation.
“It’s not like there’s something that he’s not doing. He prepares his butt off. He drinks. He’s eating the right way. He does everything he needs to.
“We got to help him take care of this — now.”
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