Duke basketball point guard Caleb Foster may take the court Friday night when the Blue Devils face St. John’s in the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 round.
Head coach Jon Scheyer announced Thursday that Foster’s availability will be determined just before tip-off as the top-seeded Blue Devils (34-2) square off against Rick Pitino’s fifth-seeded Red Storm (30-6) in East Region action in Washington, D.C.
The junior guard broke his foot during Duke’s final regular season matchup with North Carolina at home, sidelining him for the entire ACC tournament and the Blue Devils’ opening two NCAA Tournament contests.
According to Scheyer, Foster took part in Wednesday’s practice on a restricted basis, with team medical staff continuing to evaluate his condition leading up to game time.
“He’s going to give it everything he has to go (Friday) night,” Scheyer said.
Meanwhile, center Patrick Ngongba II is anticipated to be available for action.
Ngongba, who has been dealing with his own foot injury, sat out five contests but returned to play in Duke’s commanding 81-58 second-round victory over TCU last Saturday. The typical starter came off the bench for 13 minutes, contributing four points, four rebounds and four assists.
Foster has been a key contributor this season, starting 30 of 31 games while averaging 8.5 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.8 assists per contest. He has connected on 39 of 97 three-point attempts for a 40.2% success rate.
Ngongba has posted averages of 10.5 points and 6.0 rebounds while shooting 60.7% from the floor across 30 games with 28 starts. His 33 blocked shots lead the team.
