Cooper Flagg is a go for the NCAA tournament.

Duke announced Thursday that Flagg would be able to play in Friday’s first-round game against Mount St. Mary’s. Flagg suffered a left ankle injury in the quarterfinals of the ACC tournament against Georgia Tech and didn’t play in the semifinals or finals for the Blue Devils.

Friday, Duke made it official that Flagg would be in the starting lineup.

The potential No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft suffered the injury in a win over Georgia Tech after his ankle rolled while grabbing a rebound. He was helped off the court and didn’t return to the game after his ankle had swelled significantly.

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Following the game, Duke coach Jon Scheyer made it clear that it wasn’t worth risking Flagg’s health to have him return for the rest of the ACC tournament. The Blue Devils survived a furious North Carolina rally in the semifinals and then beat Louisville in the title game without him to secure a No. 1 seed and the No. 2 overall seed in the NCAA tournament.

Flagg’s return for the first round isn’t much of a surprise. NCAA executive Dan Gavitt said in an interview before Selection Sunday that the NCAA had been in communication with Duke and the school expected Flagg to be able to play. The NCAA’s selection committee is able to take injuries into account when seeding the tournament, though it’s hard to say if the Blue Devils would have dropped if Flagg was going to be unavailable given they won the ACC tournament.

Flagg has been an All-American performer as a freshman. He’s averaged 19 points and 7.5 rebounds a game as he leads Duke in points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks per game. The Blue Devils will need him to be fully healthy to win the NCAA tournament and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him eased into action against the Mountaineers if Duke wins easily. The Blue Devils are 32.5-point favorites after Mount St. Mary’s beat American on Wednesday night in their First Four matchup.