Reserve Center Remains on Duke Injury Report

Jon Scheyer and his fourth Duke basketball squad are looking to improve to 3-0 in conference action.

Oct 3, 2025; Durham, NC, USA; Duke Blue Devils center Ifeanyi Ufochukwu (15) is introduced during player introductions at the Countdown to Craziness at the Cameron Indoor Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jaylynn Nash-Imagn Images | Jaylynn Nash-Imagn Images

It's now been a couple of weeks since Ifeanyi Ufochukwu last suited up for the 2025-26 Duke basketball team. His knee injury has left the No. 6-ranked Blue Devils (13-1, 2-0 ACC) a bit shorthanded in the frontcourt during practice, so much so that head coach Jon Scheyer and his staff had to call upon one of the program's recent big men, Ryan Young, for some help in the form of the Boston Consulting Group senior associate's veteran services on their scout team.

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And judging by the Blue Devils' initial game injury report released on Monday evening ahead of their road showdown against the No. 20 Louisville Cardinals (11-3, 1-1 ACC) in the KFC Yum! Center at 7 p.m. ET Tuesday (ESPN), the 22-year-old Ufochukwu hasn't yet fully recovered from his injury setback.

Nov 21, 2025; Durham, North Carolina, USA; Duke Blue Devils head coach Jon Scheyer directs his team during the first half against the Niagara Purple Eagles at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rob Kinnan-Imagn Images | Rob Kinnan-Imagn Images

Ifeanyi Ufochukwu is Duke's only reported injured player at this early juncture in ACC play.

Meanwhile, the Cardinals will be without one of their top producers in freshman point guard Mikel Brown Jr., who is averaging 16.6 points and 5.1 assists per outing this season but has sat out of Louisville's past four games while working to bounce back from a lower back injury.

Dec 3, 2025; Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA; Louisville Cardinals guard Mikel Brown Jr prior to a game against the Arkansas Razorbacks at Bud Walton Arena. Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images | Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images

As for Ufochukwu, the 6-foot-11, 240-pound graduate transfer center, who hails from Nigeria and spent three seasons with the Rice Owls before making the move to Durham this past offseason, has seen action in only five games thus far for the Blue Devils.

With his 4.4 minutes per contest coming exclusively in the final minutes of Duke's blowout wins, Ufochukwu is averaging 0.8 points and 0.6 boards.

Although his absences haven't much mattered in games, it's worth noting that the Blue Devils' primary rotation of big men has remained fully healthy, also avoiding any considerable foul trouble on a regular basis.

After battling the Louisville Cardinals, the high-powered Blue Devils, stacking up at No. 7 in the latest NCAA NET Rankings released on Tuesday, will return to Durham to prepare for their home game against the No. 24 (AP) SMU Mustangs (12-2, 1-0 ACC) in Cameron Indoor Stadium at 2 p.m. ET Saturday (ESPN).

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