With the Duke Blue Devils entering the NCAA Men’s Tournament as the No. 1 overall top seed, Duke head coach Jon Scheyer wants to have his players healthy.
Right now, though, Blue Devils center Patrick Ngongba II is dealing with a foot injury. What does his status for the NCAA Men’s Tournament look like?
Duke’s Jon Scheyer Offers Update on Patrick Ngongba II
On Sunday, Scheyer showed up on The Field of 68’s coverage of the NCAA Men’s Tournament seedings. The Field of 68’s account on X posted a clip of Scheyer talking with the show’s hosts.
“Jon Scheyer with the latest on Pat Ngongba,” the account wrote with an emoji eyeballs at the end of the sentence. “‘We’ll make the decision a few days from now. You’re in one-and-done territory, but you don’t wanna risk setbacks. But it’s very positive. I feel very good about how he’s feeling.'”
Jon Scheyer with the latest on Pat Ngongba 👀
“We’ll make the decision a few days from now. You’re in one-and-done territory, but you don’t wanna risk setbacks. But it’s very positive. I feel very good about how he’s feeling.”
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— The Field of 68 (@TheFieldOf68) March 15, 2026
“To me, when you think about winning, I mean he’s been one of the 10 most impactful in the country to me,” Scheyer said. “If you look at analytically where he is, his rim protection he provides for our team, his passing, his scoring. You know? I mean, look, him and Caleb (Foster), that’s two of our top four scorers.
“Although I think we’ve shown in the past couple of days we can provide for the scoring in other ways as well,” Scheyer continued. “But he’s doing well. You know, the thing with this, you can’t say on Sunday that he’s ready to go on Friday because we’re being cautious with his rest.”
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Ngongba, a sophomore, averaged 10.7 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 1.9 assists per game in the regular season.
Besides Ngongba’s injury concerns, Foster is also out after fracturing his right foot and undergoing surgery. Foster started 30 of 31 games this season for the Blue Devils and was averaging 8.5 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 2.8 assists per game. This marks the second time in three seasons playing for Duke that Foster has dealt with a right foot injury.
The Blue Devils won the ACC Tournament title game, defeating the Virginia Cavaliers by a 74-70 score. Duke will play the Siena Saints in a first-round game in the East Region.
