Duke basketball center Maliq Brown could miss remainder of regular season

The Duke basketball team received positive news regarding the injury status of standout center Maliq Brown but there are still a lot of question marks about when he could return.

Jon Scheyer updated Brown’s condition while meeting with the media on Thursday afternoon.

“We got some positive news. There’s nothing abnormal that you aren’t ready to see with a dislocated shoulder. We’re optimistic that we can get him back this season,” Scheyer said.

“The hardest part is a lot of it has to do with his stability, which right now he’s pretty sore still. So we have to see how much time that takes.”

Brown suffered a dislocated shoulder after deflecting a pass late in the first half of Duke’s win over Virginia on Monday night. He immediately went to the bench and later returned to the sideline in a sling.

The Syracuse transfer has been vital to the success of the Blue Devil defense this season, which ranks No. 4 in KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency.

“Is it a couple of weeks? Is it more? He’s going to be out in the next week or so, at a minimum. I’d say it’s a few weeks, but Maliq will do whatever he can to get back on the floor.”

“We’re happy with the fact that we didn’t see anything crazy in there, just what you would normally see from a dislocated shoulder,” Scheyer added. “He’ll attack rehab with our medical team, and we’ll get him back as soon as we can, while still being really smart about not rushing this at all with him. We need him back fully healthy.”

According to Scheyer’s remarks, there is a chance that Maliq Brown could miss the remainder of the regular season but return for the postseason.

Brown is currently averaging 2.5 points, 4.1 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 1.4 steals per game while recently missing four games due to a toe injury. He has played in six games since returning from the extended absence.

No. 3 Duke (23-3, 15-1 ACC) will play a non-conference game against Illinois (17-10, 9-8 Big Ten) on Saturday night inside Madison Square Garden (8:00 p.m. ET, FOX) before returning to league play on the road against Miami (6-20, 2-13 ACC) on Tuesday, February 25.

Including its matchup with the Illini, the Blue Devils have five games remaining in the regular season.