NEW YORK -- Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said Tuesday night that he hopes coveted freshman big man Harry Giles will make his debut for the Blue Devils before Christmas.
"Harry's participating," Krzyzewski said of Giles' workouts and practice habits, "he hasn't had as much contact yet. We're hoping before Christmas, those two games. But I don't want to put a gun to his head, like, 'You have to do it.' I want to see what he's [able to do] during the same period with a little more contact, before we go forward."
Duke's been close to the vest with the injury situations it's encountered in recent weeks. The debuts of Jayson Tatum and Marques Bolden weren't known until less than an hour before tip-off of Duke's game against Maine last Saturday.
At least here, Krzyzewski is telling the public that he believes Giles is very close to 100 percent and almost certainly should be play before the calendar flips to 2017.
Duke is now 9-1 after beating Florida 84-74 Tuesday at Madison Square Garden, ranked No. 5 in the country and faces UNLV in Las Vegas on Saturday. If Giles is able to return within Krzyzewski's Christmas timetable, that would mean he'll see his first action in Duke's home game on Monday, Dec. 19, against Tennessee State and/or Duke's home game on Wednesday, Dec. 21, vs. Elon.
