Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said Saturday night that Zion Williamson is on track to make his return on action on Thursday when the Blue Devils begin their ACC Tournament action in the quarterfinals.
Duke has secured the double-bye in the ACC Tournament and will have nearly a full week to get Williamson back into game shape before the postseason begins.
Krzyzewski said that Williamson worked out with the team on Saturday morning in a non-contact fashion, with full contact practice beginning on Monday.
Krzyzewski announced after the game that Bolden has been diagnosed with an MCL sprain, which he considered a good result given the potential for a more devastating injury after seeing the big man get helped off the floor and to the locker room.
“We’ve had combat injuries,” Krzyzewski said, noting that these game-changing injuries to Zion, Bolden and even Tre Jones’ shoulder earlier in the year have been in competitive game situations. The Hall of Fame coach did not seem concerned with the impact that injuries have had on this year’s team, apparently chalking it up to the cost of engaging in the battle for college basketball supremacy.
Coach K updates Zion — expects him to return Thursday in ACC tournament — as well as Marques Bolden (MCL sprain). pic.twitter.com/EtlGb10Ycf
— Marty Smith (@MartySmithESPN) March 10, 2019
Krzyzewski said Saturday night that there’s no “unknowns” about what Duke will look like when the National Player of the Year favorite is back on the floor. It’s basically just down to Zion getting back into game shape, and when that happens there doesn’t seem to be any concern about Duke returning to the form it had prior to that fateful shoe exploding in Cameron Indoor Stadium earlier this season.
March Madness with Zion is going to be fantastic.
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