Duke basketball recruit ends monster 44-game winning streak

A Duke basketball signee put forth an impressive outing against one of the top teams in the country. 

The talk around New Jersey all throughout the high school basketball season was the matchup between Duke basketball signee Dariq Whitehead and Montverde Academy (Fla.) against DJ Wagner, the No. 1 player in the Class of 2023, and Camden High School (N.J.).

Whitehead, a Newark, New Jersey native, was playing in his home state for the first time this season. And the No. 4 player in the Class of 2022, according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings, did not disappoint the home faithful.

The future Blue Devil went for a game-high 18 points, one rebound, two assists, and two steals in Montverde’s 52-40 victory, but his performance on the defensive end of the floor was much more impressive.

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Listed at 6-foot-6, Whitehead drew the assignment of guarding Wagner. The five-star prospect was held to just four points on the night, a career-low, as he entered the game averaging 18.6 points per game this season.

Wagner’s previous career-low came twice in his freshman season when he posted 10 points against Payne Tech (NJ) and West Deptford (NJ).

DJ Wagner, the son of former NBA player Dajuan Wagner, seemingly has his recruitment trimmed down to two schools, Kentucky and Memphis, and there are two 247Sports Crystal Ball Predictions for John Calipari and the Wildcats.

Montverde jumped out to a 22-4 lead after the first quarter, and its victory snapped a 44-game winning streak for Camden, dating back to the early stages of the 2019-20 season.

In the latest SCNext Top-25 rankings from ESPN, Camden entered the showdown at No. 2 in the country, the top team in New Jersey, and Montverde at No. 4.

Duke basketball signee continues to impress alongside other Blue Devils

It has been an amazing final high school season for the next crop of players entering Durham as Jon Scheyer has landed the top incoming recruiting class in his first season as Duke’s head coach.

Dariq Whitehead will join fellow five-star recruits Dereck Lively II, Kyle Filipowski, and Mark Mitchell at Duke next season alongside four-star pledge Jaden Schutt and three-star recruit Christian Reeves.

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Lively and Filipowski played each other last week in the 2022 Empire Invitational with Scheyer, Nolan Smith, and Amile Jefferson in attendance.

Duke is currently ranked at No. 8 in the most recent AP Top-25 Poll and boasts a 13-2 (2-1 ACC) record.