Following No. 7 Duke’s 82-45 exhibition win over Fayetteville State on Wednesday, head coach Jon Scheyer provided an injury update on the Blue Devils’ two top freshmen.
Neither center Dereck Lively II nor wing Dariq Whitehead — the top two national recruits, respectively, in the 2022 class — participated in Duke’s victory, as both continue rehabbing from injury. Scheyer said that Lively is day to day with a calf injury, but still has a chance to play in the team’s season-opener next Monday, Nov. 7 against Jacksonville. The same injury kept Lively from participating in the team’s preseason basketball event, Countdown to Craziness, in late October, as well as its “secret” scrimmage at Houston on Saturday.
As for Whitehead, Scheyer said he will not play Monday. “He’s still a couple weeks away,” Scheyer added. The 6-foot-7, 220-pound wing initially fractured his right foot during practice on Aug. 29, and had surgery the following day. Duke said at the time that Whitehead “is expected to play this fall,” but he now seems likely to miss not just the opener — also Scheyer’s first game as head coach after taking over for the since-retired Mike Krzyzewski this summer — but also Duke’s Champions Classic matchup against Kansas the following week.
Both Lively and Whitehead are projected as potential lottery picks in next summer’s NBA Draft. In The Athletic draft expert Sam Vecenie’s most recent mock, he had both players being selected in the lottery by the Orlando Magic: Whitehead with the No. 7 pick, and Lively at No. 14.
In their absences, Duke started Northwestern transfer Ryan Young at center and two other five-star freshmen — Kyle “Flip” Filipowski and Mark Mitchell — on the wing.
“The big thing for both of those guys is not just being completely healthy, which they are right there,” Scheyer said. “You have to build up your game shape up again, and we don’t want to put them out too early. They are working hard. They were out here right after our walkthrough today on the court, building up their conditioning. They’re working every day to get back out there with us as soon as possible.”
Scheyer, who took over the Blue Devils’ recruiting efforts last summer upon being named coach-in-waiting, welcomed the nation’s top-ranked freshman class to Durham this summer, including five total five-star prospects.
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(Photo: Rob Kinnan / USA Today)
