Duke basketball: Dariq Whitehead injury update leaves questions

The Duke basketball program received good news on the injury status from Dariq Whitehead. 

Things might not have turned out as bad for the Duke basketball program on Monday night than it appeared.

After two full days of not receiving an update on freshman Dariq Whitehead, head coach Jon Scheyer told reporters on Thursday afternoon that the forward will not miss the remainder of the season.

Whitehead looked to suffer an Achilles injury early in the second half of Duke’s loss to Virginia Tech in which he had to be helped to the locker room by two teammates and could not put any weight on his left leg.

The freshman was caught by television cameras in the final seconds on crutches with a bag of ice around his lower leg as the Hokies topped the Blue Devils.

Potential timetable for Duke basketball star’s return

Dariq Whitehead was ruled out from Saturday’s matchup against Georgia Tech but no timetable was provided for a return to the court.

Jon Scheyer said that the forward’s injury was a “strain” but evaded specifics on the injury and stated that the program will wait until he is pain free to bring him back on the floor.

Whitehead suffered a broken right foot in August that kept him out until mid-November, missing the first three games of the season as he finally looked to be in the rhythm of the offense with 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting before his injury.

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The Newark, New Jersey native is averaging 8.4 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 1.2 assists per game this season.

Duke (14-6, 5-4 ACC) begins a very difficult three game stretch on February 4 beginning with North Carolina (15-6, 7-3 ACC) followed by road contests against No. 20 Miami (16-4, 7-3 ACC) and No. 7 Virginia (15-3, 7-2 ACC) on the following Monday and Saturday, respectively.