PHOTO: Duke’s Cooper Flagg has been cleared to return from his ankle injury for the Blue Devils NCAA Tournament opener on Friday against Mount St. Mary’s.

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Click here for review and purchase link: THE RIGHT THING TO DO, The True Pioneers of College Football Integration in the 1960s.

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By TOM SHANAHAN

RALEIGH – Top-seeded Duke enters the NCAA Tournament against No. 16 seed Mount St. Mary’s on Friday having played four games in March that answered two of the Blue Devils’ most pressing concerns.

Both questions involved the status of freshman Cooper Flagg, whose status was cleared up on Thursday when Duke coach Jon Scheyer said 6-foot-9, 205-pounder will return to the lineup for the 2:50 p.m. game Friday at the Lenovo Center.

— 1) What if Flagg is in foul trouble? Check that box.

In the regular-season finale at North Carolina, Flagg picked up his second foul with 12 minutes left in the first half and went to the bench for the next seven minutes. He returned with five minutes left and picked up a third foul two minutes later to sit out the remainder of the half.

Duke rallied to the flag with a 43-42 halftime lead and an 82-69 victory.

— 2) What if Flagg suffers an injury? Check that box.

In the ACC Tournament opener against Georgia Tech, Duke trailed 19-8 when Flagg left the game with a severely sprained ankle in the first half and didn’t return. Duke rallied to a 78-70 victory without Flagg.

The Blue Devils continued play the next two games without Flagg and junior Maliq Brown, but they won both to add the ACC tournament title to their regular-season crown. They beat North Carolina 74-71 and Louisville 73-62.

“Sometimes injuries are bad luck, and when there’s bad luck or things that work against you, it’s really an opportunity is what it is,” Scheyer said. “I thought that presented an amazing opportunity for our team to show our toughness in a critical moment.

“The Georgia Tech game, we’re down, we’re playing horrible, they’re playing really well, and to be able to come back and turn it around the next two days against two really good teams. With all that said, we all know we need them and we’re a lot better with them.

“But for our other guys to step up in close games to make big-time winning plays, I think that just gave us even more confidence with what we can do getting him back healthy and ready to go at the same time.”

But Flagg’s return was about more than being ambulatory. Flagg put together a season worthy of national Player of the Year and is projected as the first pick of the NBA draft. He leads Duke with 18.9 points and 7.5 rebounds a game.

Duke’s trainers tested Flagg for full mobility. Scheyer didn’t want Flagg to compensate for his injury as he ran and jumped. Many careers have prematurely ended when a body part elsewhere suffers the brunt of compensating for the original injury.

“Cooper, for us, this is about him being able to move properly,” Scheyer said. “He wasn’t going to play if he was compensating or if he was. Look, no matter what, an ankle sprain, to say he’s 100 percent tomorrow, he has to work through that a little bit still. But he’s not compensating.”

Flagg said once an MRI exam revealed no broken bone, he focused confidently on his rehab.

“I’ve twisted my ankle a good amount of times,” he said. “Growing up, I feel like most basketball players go through something like that. It was kind of just figuring out how severe it is and how it feels, see if you can just get up and walk it off, but obviously it was definitely more than that.”

Junior guard Tyrese Proctor added the team gained confidence from playing well without Flagg and Brown.

“I think not having Coop and Maliq, it hurt our team, but it was also a good experience,” he said. “We’ve sort of played without a couple guys the whole year, and I think it’s just good to have that in your back pocket. You never know what’s going to happen, and you pray to God no one else gets hurt. It’s possible, and stuff happens.

“I thought we adapted really well. Coop and Maliq and everyone had full confidence in everyone, and we just went out and played our game.”

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Tom Shanahan is an award-winning sportswriter and frequent contributor to Spartanmag.com in addition to posting on his website. His new book on Michigan State leading college football integration is, “THE RIGHT THING TO DO, The True Pioneers of College Football Integration in the 1960s.” His first book was “RAYE OF LIGHT, Jimmy Raye, Duffy Daugherty, the Integration of College Football and the 1965-66 Michigan State Spartans.”

I invite you to follow me on Twitter @shanny4055

Below are links to click on to purchase my books focused.

My books tell the true story of college football integration in the 1960s and address the myths and fiction that allowed a false narrative surrounding the 1970 USC-Alabama game to usurp the credit from the true pioneers. As I said when I spoke at the National Sports Media Association book festival, no two books provide an accurate portrayal more than RAYE OF LIGHT and THE RIGHT THING TO DO.

I’ll put my facts up against anybody, anytime, anywhere. Watch here.

Click here for my story on the 1962 Rose Bowl and Segregation awarded first place by the Football Writers Association of America. I tell untold stories on Michigan State’s leading role and the true pioneers of college football integration. Click here to read the summary as a first-place story.

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Click here to purchase The Right Thing To Do

THE RIGHT THING TO DO

The True Pioneers of College Football Integration in the 1960s

Foreword by Ruffin McNeill

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Click here to purchase Raye of Light.

RAYE OF LIGHT

Jimmy Raye, Duffy Daugherty, the 1ntegration of College Football and the 1965-66 Michigan State Spartans

Foreword by Tony Dungy

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Click here to purchase my children’s book, Bubba’s Dad, Duffy and College Football’s Underground Railroad

The book for now is only a Kindle version on Amazon. Print and audio platforms available soon.