Dariq Whitehead, the No. 2 recruit in this year’s class per 247 Sports, played his first game of the 2022-23 season Friday night when No. 7 Duke took on Delaware. Here’s what you need to know:
- Whitehead played 16 minutes in the Blue Devils’ 92-58 win against Delaware, scoring six points and tallying two rebounds.
- Whitehead has been out since late August, when he initially fractured his right foot and had surgery to repair it.
- The freshman did participate in pregame warm-ups for the first time on Tuesday, before Duke’s eventual 69-64 loss to Kansas in the Champions Classic.
🚨 @dariq_whitehead 🏀😈 pic.twitter.com/hT8vFm7DKV
— Duke Men’s Basketball (@DukeMBB) November 18, 2022
Backstory
At the time of the injury, Duke said that Whitehead “was expected to play this fall,” but never clarified a timeline for his return. He missed the remainder of Duke’s preseason practices, its “secret” scrimmage against Houston in October and the first three games of the season.
Scouting report
A 6-foot-7, 220-pound wing, Whitehead was one of the most highly sought-after recruits in the country for good reason. He’s an aggressive scorer, the type of slashing wing who can drive to the rim and finish capably through contact. Plus, when he does draw multiple defenders on those drives to the basket, he has the vision and passing ability to dump the ball off to newly-open teammates. Whitehead isn’t a knockdown 3-point shooter yet, and sometimes takes more difficult midrange shots than you’d like, but he’s the sort of do-everything perimeter player that college and professional teams covet.
And defensively, he might be even more advanced. Whitehead can capably guard multiple positions on-ball, and his combination of size and lateral quickness should make him one of the Blue Devils’ more-versatile defenders in short order. Whitehead is a projected lottery pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, with The Athletic draft expert Sam Vecenie slotting him at No. 7 to the Orlando Magic in his latest mock draft.
What Whitehead’s return means for Duke
Considering his lengthy layoff, it makes sense for Whitehead to come off the bench for his first few games. But once his conditioning catches up, he’s going to be a starter — and likely, a star — for Scheyer’s first team. Scheyer values versatility as much as anything, and in Whitehead he has the ultimate chess piece. Whitehead can reasonably play the 2, 3 or 4 nominally, meaning he fits in multiple lineup permutations. Duke will likely start Whitehead alongside junior point guard Jeremy Roach and freshman Tyrese Proctor in the backcourt, with some combination of Kyle Filipowski, Dereck Lively and Mark Mitchell joining them in the frontcourt. Really, Whitehead’s return will give Duke a “six starters” sort of situation, where at least one former five-star prospect comes off the bench as a sixth man.
But make no mistake: A healthy Whitehead is likely to emerge as Duke’s top offensive threat, and the connective player who greases the rest of the Blue Devils’ offense. Him becoming the team’s leading scorer wouldn’t be a surprise in the slightest.
Required reading
(Photo: Lance King / Getty Images)
