Jalen Johnson has missed Duke's last three games due to a mysterious foot injury suffered in mid-December.
But Monday, head coach Mike Krzyzewski indicated that Blue Devil fans could see the star freshman return to the floor soon.
"[Johnson] had a workout [yesterday] with a few of our guys who didn't get as many minutes, and felt good this morning," Krzyzewski said in the ACC's weekly teleconference. "He will go on the trip and he will suit up against Virginia Tech. I'm not sure we'll play him yet. We have a little bit of time after this game to get him back into condition.... He's got the medical go-ahead to go forward, but it's a matter of conditioning and just getting himself back on track."
Krzyzewski added that center Patrick Tape has not been able to do anything after suffering a back injury in practice prior to the Boston College game Jan. 8. Tape has missed the Blue Devils' last two contests, with Krzyzewski saying he hopes the former Columbia big man is able to return during the team's week-long break between playing Virginia Tech Tuesday and Pittsburgh Jan. 19.
"We don't have many big guys, and you lose two guys like that—even [though] our perimeter has done a great job, we need [Johnson and Tape] back," Krzyzewski said.
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