Duke fresher as well as previous first-class possibility Dariq Whitehead endured a lower-leg injury throughout Monday’s 78-75 loss atVirginia Tech Whitehead left the game early in the 2nd fifty percent after touchdown awkwardly on hisleft leg He was aided off the court, not able to place any kind of stress on his injury, as well as did not go back to the game.
The injury featured 17:20 left in the 2nd fifty percent as Duke routed 47-45. Whitehead tried to safeguard an entrance go by leaping at the round before his guy however boiled down awkwardly as well as quickly collapsed to the flooring. He jumped to his feet to complete out the offending play from Virginia Tech however inspected right out of the game when the belongings transformed.
Whitehead authorized to Duke with high assumptions as a luxury McDonald’s All-American as well as placed as theNo 2 total gamer in the 2022 course. He has actually been a projected lottery pick in the upcoming 2023 NBA Draft as well as placedNo 11 in the CBS Sports Top 50 NBA Draft positions before the injury. However, he has yet to totally meet assumptions after enduring a crack in his ideal foot in the preseason that called for surgical procedure. He missed out on the very first 2 weeks of the period as well as has actually gradually been functioned back right into Duke’s turning as the period has actually accompanied.
The extent of this 2nd injury continues to be uncertain, however based upon his first response as well as the video clip replay, it might definitely result in him missing out on one more portion of time equally as Duke goes into the heart of meeting play. That contributes to the interested instance of among the 2023 draft’s secret box leads, whose intrigue lengthy focused around his eruptive jumping capability as well as inside-out racking up from the wing place. Two feasible substantial lower- body injuries in the period of a couple of months might open some practical uncertainty over his lasting forecasts at the NBA degree.
In 15 video games this period with the Blue Devils, Whitehead, that left Monday’s game with 10 factors as well as one rebound, was balancing 8.3 factors as well as 2.5 rebounds per game in simply over 20 mins of activity per evening.
Duke with the loss is up to 14-6 total as well as 5-4 in ACC play.
