What we know, and don’t know, about injuries to Duke’s Jeremy Roach and Mark Mitchell
As No. 7 Duke prepares to play Pittsburgh on Saturday night, one of its injured players is making progress toward a return.
Jeremy Roach, who is recovering from a knee injury, did some on-court work at Duke’s practice on Wednesday, Blue Devils coach Jon Scheyer said.
“Jeremy was able to do a little bit on the court for the first time,” Scheyer said Wednesday night during his radio show. “Mark (Mitchell) still hasn’t been able to.”
Mitchell, a 6-9 sophomore forward, has a sprained knee. He was not in uniform last Saturday when the Blue Devils topped Georgia Tech, 84-79, at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Roach suffered a different type of knee injury during the game, causing him to miss all but 58 seconds of the game’s final 8:21.
Scheyer had previously said both players were day-to-day but that he expected both to miss practices this week. While neither player practiced on Tuesday, Roach progressed ever so slightly the following day.
Regardless, Scheyer said, neither injury is considered serious enough to keep them out for an extended time.
“Day to day means different things,” Scheyer said. “That doesn’t mean back in a day. But it means that there’s nothing structural, and that’s the most important. So it’s not going to be long term.”
Roach has started every game this season, increasing his streak of consecutive games started to 32 in a row going back to last season. The 6-3 senior guard averages a team-high 32.9 minutes per game, averaging 14.6 points and 3.2 assists per game. He’s made 45.3% of his 3-pointers this season.
Mitchell has started 13 of the 14 games he’s played for Duke (13-3, 4-1 ACC) this season. He’s averaging 12.2 points and 5.6 rebounds per game.
“Still don’t know if they’re gonna play on a Saturday,” Scheyer said. “They’re both two different injuries, but they’re working hard every day.”
This story was originally published January 18, 2024 at 6:45 PM.