WASHINGTON – Caleb Foster rolled out of the Duke locker room with his right foot wrapped in ice and his right knee perched atop a one-legged scooter, a bag of ice strapped and wrapped around his left calf for good measure.
Twenty days ago, Foster fractured his right foot in a win against North Carolina. In the wake of the injury, Duke coach Jon Scheyer believed Foster, a junior, had a “one-in-a-million” chance on returning this season.
On Friday night, Foster came off the bench to score 11 points, corral three rebounds and dish out a pair of assists across 19 crucial minutes to spark the No. 1 Blue Devils’ 80-75 win against No. 5 St. John’s to reach the East Region finals.
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“Still a little stunned with what happened, to be honest with you guys, because what this guy did, to be honest, he had no business playing tonight,” Scheyer said.
“Ninety-nine percent of guys do not come back to play under the circumstances of what's happened to him. It was incredible the way he willed us. There's no analytics. There's no stats that can measure how big this dude's heart is for what he did.”
Part Jordan flu game, part Willis Reed on one leg, Foster’s performance against the Red Storm should linger in Duke history.
“What I saw today was pretty unbelievable,” said guard Dame Sarr. “I’ve never seen something like this before. The way he played for us today, it was really unbelievable.”
Duke players found out Foster was going to play on Thursday night, though he’d come off the bench behind freshman Cayden Boozer. That fulfilled a promise he made last week: Foster told teammates he’d be back for the Sweet 16 if they were able to advance out of the opening weekend.
“He just worked his butt off every single day, every single hour,” said freshman forward Nikolas Khamenia. “Before practice, after practice, he was doing everything he could.”
Intensive rehabbing increased Foster’s odds. But even then, he rolled into the Capital One Arena for Thursday’s open practice on his scooter and didn’t take part in any 5-on-5 work. Still, there was enough improvement for Scheyer to roll the dice: Foster would play as one of the Blue Devils’ first players off the bench.
The injury against the Tar Heels and the chance that his season was over left Foster “real stunned,” he said. “I didn't know if I was going to be able to bounce back from that, but as soon as the doctor told me that it's a chance, I just took it and ran with it. That's where my mindset has been from here on out.”
That didn’t surprise the locker room, even if the same group initially believed, like Scheyer, that Foster’s return this season was the longest of long shots.
But the Blue Devils saw him work. They watched Foster constantly rehabbing his foot while they did their on-court work. They saw Foster steadily improve his mobility and flexibility. Steadily, Duke players began to believe that Foster would be back this season.
“He was just telling us he was going to be back ASAP. He was going to do everything. Literally, he did everything he possibly could,” said guard Darren Harris.
“All the players expected him to play. Just the way he was handling everything, the way he was talking to us. He was with us since the day he got hurt. So it was no surprise to us.”
And seeing Foster on the court gave the Blue Devils the mental boost they needed to combat the Red Storm’s physical play, teammates said.
“That was special,” said Harris. “The resilience he has, that he’s showed us since Day 1. That was a special moment to kind of see him will us to a win. First game back after his surgery, that was crazy.”
Said Sarr, “It does a lot. I feel like it shows how much we want it. It’s just not talk. We really want to advance, we really want to win. We’ll find a way. And that’s what we did today.”
After starting the second half on the bench, Foster entered the game with 16:42 to play and Duke trailing 50-44. Two minutes later, that deficit would grow to 55-45. Then Foster stepped up to change the complexion of a game that seemed to be slipping away.
“I wanted to come out and provide anything possible, experience, whatever the team needed,” he said. “I didn't know what we needed or what to expect, but just providing a boost out there any way I can.”
He made a second-chance layup to make it 55-47, and then drove for another layup on the next Duke possession to cut the lead to 55-49. A short jumper, a free throw and an assist on a Cameron Boozer bucket made the score 57-54 with 12 minutes remaining.
After being replaced by Cayden Boozer at the 9:39 mark, Foster returned with 4:22 remaining and the score tied 67-67. Down the stretch, he delivered two key scores to keep St. John’s at bay: Foster made a pull-up jumper to put Duke in front 75-69 with 2:14 left and then delivered on a driving layup to put the lead to 77-72 with 1:27 to play, locking down the win.
“I had full confidence in him,” Cayden Boozer said. “Obviously, what he did today was elite. For him having surgery 20 days ago and to be able come back as fast as he did and play the way he did, that’s super impressive. That’s like my older brother. I’m super proud of him.”
Beyond the key buckets and assists, Foster was the inspiration Duke needed to remain composed in the face of the Red Storm’s pressure.
“We were getting a little too low on ourselves,” Sarr said. “He was talking to us in a way that I felt secure that we were going to win. His eyes were talking. He’s special, man.”
But even playing just 19 minutes — his fewest in a complete game since logging 18 minutes against Western Carolina in the second game of the year — was almost too much for Foster, who was visibly fatigued in the second half and struggled to get lift on his shots from beyond medium range.
“Obviously, he was a little tired out there,” said Harris.
But he had fight — and so did Duke. The Blue Devils reached the Sweet 16 without Foster; on Friday night, he returned the favor.
“I didn’t know what to expect,” said Sarr. “I was like, ‘Let’s go.’ He’s ready? I’m going to roll for him. He’s our point guard. He’s our leader. I was ready to go with him, to fight.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Caleb Foster returns from injury to lead Duke past St John's, into Elite 8
