Duke Freshman Patrick Ngongba Is In A Boot And Out Indefinitely

Not good news certainly but probably manageable

The hype for Duke’s season is very high, as you probably know. But as you definitely know, and not just from basketball but from life, things don’t always go according to plan.

So in a bit of bad but manageable bad news, Duke freshman Patrick Ngongba is sidelined with a foot injury.

As far as we can tell from X, Ngongba is in a walking boot and out indefinitely. It looks like they’re trying to straighten out his situation from last year - in other words, it may not be a new injury but simply a longer recovery than expected.

As far as the team goes, it’s manageable. Malik Brown and Cooper Flagg can cover the post as backups to Khaman Maluach.

Still, for Ngongba personally, it’s a drag. It puts him behind at the beginning of his career. You learn a lot about a person from how he responds to adversity though. Hopefully he treats it as an opportunity to learn and to get better from observing and talking with his coaches.