West Virginia went to Duke country to get help for point guard Darryl "Truck'' Bryant's broken right foot.
While the Blue Devils were beating Baylor on Sunday in the South Regional final, Bryant was in Durham, N.C., with Randy Meador, WVU's coordinator of athletic training services, to get fitted for a specially designed shoe.
Meador declined to name the specialist, but said Monday, "It's not like we were at Duke.''
Bryant broke his foot Tuesday and has missed WVU's last two games in the NCAA tournament.
The guard is optimistic about the shoe, which would shift weight away from his fractured fifth metatarsal. Bryant went as far as predicting he could play "like nothing happened'' after watching West Virginia beat Kentucky in the East Regional final.
On Monday, coach Bob Huggins took a wait-and-see approach.
Huggins said he won't know anything until seeing Bryant at practice. The Mountaineers (31-6) begin preparations on Tuesday for their Final Four meeting with Duke (33-5) on Saturday night in Indianapolis.
"I don't have any idea,'' Huggins said. "We're not going to go today and we really won't know until we see what he can do (Tuesday) and Wednesday and how he progresses.''
If Bryant returns, Huggins would have to choose between Bryant, who struggled before his injury, and Joe Mazzulla, who's been a catalyst in Bryant's absence.
Bryant has started 31 games, averages 9.3 points and is second on the team in assists (3.1) and 3-pointers (40). But in the six games before he got hurt, his highest output was four points. He went scoreless twice and shot a combined 5 of 28 (18 percent) from the field.
Junior college transfer Casey Mitchell started for Bryant in a regional semifinal win over Washington, but Mazzulla played the most significant minutes in that game and started against Kentucky, scoring a career-high 17 points, making several uncontested layups.
Huggins wouldn't speculate further on Bryant's return. He just welcomes any flicker of hope.
"I just know they said that with this, that there was a chance he could play,'' Huggins said. "So for Truck's sake and the rest of our guys, we're going to explore every opportunity.''
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said he's preparing as if he'll see Bryant in the game.
"I would expect him to be back from what I've heard,'' Krzyzewski said. "That just gives them more depth. And after Mazzulla's played so well, sometimes when a kid has been out, the team becomes better and he comes back and they go up a notch as a team. Who starts or not, we've got to be ready for both of those young men to play.''
