Duke fresher and also previous luxury possibility Dariq Whitehead will not play Saturday in the group’s roadway video game versus Georgia Tech as he recoups from a lower-leg injury, trainer Jon Scheyer revealedThursday The great information for Duke and also Whitehead is the injury he maintained in Duke’s Monday evening 78-75 loss versus Virginia Tech is not an Achilles tear, neither is it season- finishing.
“We’ve got positive news, but he’s not ready for Saturday,” Scheyer informed press reporters. Whitehead experienced several examinations today, and also the MRI scans revealed “no structural damage.”
“It’s a strain, it’s not anything more than that,” Scheyer claimed.
The first-year Blue Devils trainer seemed urged, however did not provide a timeline for the length of time Whitehead can be out.
“I don’t want to speculate on a time, because we don’t know,” Scheyer claimed.
Whitehead left the Virginia Tech video game with 17:20 staying after touchdown awkwardly on his left leg. He was aided off the court, not able to place any kind of stress on his injury, and also did not return. Duke tracked 47-45 then. Whitehead tried to protect an entrance go by leaping at the sphere before his guy however boiled down awkwardly and also right away collapsed to the flooring. He jumped to his feet to complete out the offending play however inspected right out of the video game when the belongings altered.
“In that game against Virginia Tech I thought he (Whitehead) showed some big-time flashes,” Scheyer claimed Thursday.
Whitehead authorized to Duke with high assumptions as a luxury McDonald’s All-American and also rated as theNo 2 total gamer in the 2022 course. He has actually been a projected lottery pick in the upcoming 2023 NBA Draft and also ratedNo 11 in the CBS Sports Top 50 NBA Draft positions before theinjury However, he has yet to totally meet assumptions after enduring a crack in his ideal foot in the preseason that called for surgical treatment. He missed out on the very first 2 weeks of the season and also has actually gradually been functioned back right into Duke’s turning as the season has actually accompanied.
In the previous 2 years, Whitehead’s had a great deal of intrigue bordering his long-lasting possibility, a lot of it focused around his eruptive jumping capability and also 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 affordable dispute concerning his draft worth, though this lower-leg stress does reduce some problems.
In 15 video games this season with the Blue Devils, Whitehead, that left Monday’s video game with 10 factors and also one rebound, was balancing 8.3 factors and also 2.5 rebounds in simply over 20 mins of activity per evening.
