While Filipowski injury concerns Duke, don’t overlook another ailing player from loss at Wake
Hear the coach of Duke basketball, Jon Scheyer, react to Wake Forest fans storming the field and hurting Kyle Filipowski following the Deacons’ victory over the Blue Devils on Saturday, February 24, 2024, at LJVM Coliseum in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. BY ETHAN HYMAN
This weekend’s talk in collegiate basketball circles is dominated by Kyle Filipowski’s knee injury, which was caused by reveling Wake Forest supporters storming Joel Coliseum’s court. But the injury sustained by another Duke player during the Blue Devils’ defeat over the Demon Deacons on Saturday has just as much of an effect. Freshman guard Caleb Foster suffered a foot injury in the second half of Wake Forest’s 83-79 victory over eighth-ranked Duke, which kept him out of the game for the last 15 minutes and 28 seconds.
A starter in Duke’s past three games and 15 games overall this season, the 6-5 Foster has emerged as a steadying force that belies his relative inexperience. “Caleb is so important to our team,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said Saturday. “It’s not just him making shots. He’s so steady. He plays both ends. He’s going to be such a special guard. He goes down in the second half and we don’t know what’s wrong with him, ankle or foot or something.
Though without crutches or a walking boot, Foster walked gingerly as he left Duke’s locker room to head to the bus ride home Saturday. He’ll be the latest in a growing list of Blue Devils getting medical attention from the team’s staff this season.
Filipowski left Winston-Salem with an ice pack wrapped in clear plastic around his right knee. Fans on the court immediately after the final buzzer collided with him, sending him spinning amid the maelstrom of humanity before a Duke manager and a teammate, Stanley Borden, grabbed him to pull him to safety.
