Five-star lands Duke basketball offer in advance of his official visit

Duke basketball is now in full-on pursuit of another coveted 2022 prospect.

At No. 8 overall on the 247Sports 2022 Composite, Montverde (Fla.) small forward Dariq Whitehead ranks higher than any of the other handful of preps from his class who currently seem squarely on the Duke basketball recruiting radar.

Plus, the 6-foot-8, 205-pound five-star has been speaking quite highly of the Blue Devils and their chief-in-waiting, Jon Scheyer, in the wake of last week’s year-in-advance announcement of Mike Krzyzewski’s retirement. And he’s slated to be in Durham for an official visit this weekend, beginning on Friday.

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So it makes sense that, according to his tweet on Tuesday afternoon, Whitehead has now become the second recruit to receive an offer from Scheyer, who appears to henceforth hold the final call on recruiting decisions as he eyes his first class.

Per Rivals, Whitehead now possesses 21 offers. Also worth noting, one of the top recruiting insiders there, Jamie Shaw, recently switched the first-and-only pick inside the FutureCast from Florida State to Duke. However, at 247Sports, the Crystal Ball experts still give the Seminoles a 2-0 lead over the rest of the field.

The other reported 2022 Blue Devil offer recipient to date is to Westtown (Pa.) four-star center Dereck Lively. He is scheduled to be on campus at the end of June alongside two potential offer recipients in Wilbraham & Monson (Mass.) four-star power forward Kyle Filipowski and Sunrise Christian (Kan.) five-star small forward Mark Mitchell.

Assessing Duke basketball recruiting’s latest official target

Just watch this Dariq Whitehead mixtape:

Explosively athletic. Emphatically competitive. Refined handles. Tons of confidence. An assortment of floaters and pull-up jumpers. A constant threat both in transition and in the halfcourt setting. Always looking to attack. A willing defender. A gifted passer.

All that was on display last season in a starring role for the No. 1 high school team in the country.

Simply put, all we can say at this early stage is Dariq Whitehead has a frame and game clearly worthy of his Duke basketball offer.