Duke remains the favorite to capture the ACC Tournament title by winning three games in three days after dominating the regular season. However, the top-ranked Blue Devils will head to Charlotte significantly short-handed.
The most notable injury update involves starting point guard Caleb Foster, who could miss the rest of the season after fracturing his right foot in the regular-season finale against North Carolina. He isn’t the only key player sidelined. Starting center Patrick Ngongba will also be unavailable as he continues to recover from soreness in his right foot.
These setbacks will challenge Duke’s depth as the postseason begins. In the backcourt, Cayden Boozer is expected to slide into the starting lineup, while Darren Harris and Nikolas Khamenia could see increased minutes off the bench. The situation in the frontcourt is even thinner. With limited options beyond Maliq Brown, the ACC Sixth Man and Defensive Player of the Year is likely to move into the starting lineup despite being somewhat undersized for the center position.
Ifeanyi Ufochukwu’s absence becomes more noticeable with Ngongba sidelined
Rice transfer Ifeanyi Ufochukwu appeared in just five games for Duke before suffering a season-ending non-contact knee injury during a December practice. The 6-foot-11 Nigerian senior averaged only 4.4 minutes in those appearances and was never expected to play a major role for the Blue Devils this season. Even so, with Ngongba now unavailable and Brown undersized for the position, Ufochukwu would have been the only other true center available to head coach Jon Scheyer.
For much of the season, Duke has relied on a nine-man rotation, though Scheyer has shortened it to eight in marquee matchups such as last month’s win over Michigan. When Foster and Ngongba went down in the second half against North Carolina, the rotation shrank even further to just seven players, with Cameron Sheffield and Jack Scott only seeing the floor briefly during the final moments of garbage time.
Sheffield and Scott are the remaining depth pieces who have logged minutes this season, but both are listed as guards, with Sheffield being the taller of the two at 6-foot-8. In contrast, Ufochukwu at least brought legitimate size that could have helped with rim protection and rebounding, even though he averaged just 3.3 minutes per game last season at Rice.
Looking ahead to the NCAA Tournament next week, Ngongba is expected to return, and while Foster will still be out, Scheyer should be able to rely on a tighter eight-man rotation. The ACC Tournament presents a different challenge, though. Winning three games in three days with only seven available players will be difficult, especially with Cameron Boozer and Brown as the only true big men.
Given the circumstances, it might actually benefit Duke to ease off during the ACC Tournament instead of placing a heavy workload on players like the Boozer twins, Brown, Isaiah Evans, and Dame Sarr right before the team begins its push toward another Final Four. With the roster already stretched thin, Scheyer simply can’t risk losing any more bodies at this critical point in the season.