Duke basketball: Jon Scheyer tells Jaden Schutt to ‘be ready’

The Duke basketball team could unlock a seldom used freshman this weekend. 

Dariq Whitehead (lower leg strain) will not play on Saturday afternoon for the Duke basketball team and head coach Jon Scheyer is not holding anything back when it comes to replacing the five-star freshman.

Whitehead has scored at least 10 points in six of his last eight games, including the game in which he got hurt against Virginia Tech as he had 10 points in 17 minutes on 4-of-6 shooting, but the Blue Devils remain in desperate need of shooting help.

“Everyone has to be ready,” Scheyer said to the assembled media on Thursday afternoon.

Duke (14-6, 5-4 ACC) is shooting just 32.1-percent from 3-point range as a team and players like Tyrese Proctor, Kyle Filipowski, and Jeremy Roach are all shooting under 30.4-percent from distance.

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However, the Blue Devils have one player who is proven, albeit in a small sample size, to be a prolific and efficient sharpshooter on its bench that it rarely uses, freshman guard Jaden Schutt.

Schutt, a four-star prospect entering Duke, was highly regarded around recruiting circles for his shot making abilities from the outside and was even thought of as the best shooter in the Class of 2022.

“We’ve told Jaden [Schutt] be ready,” Scheyer explicitly explained.

“Jaden [Schutt] has been a guy that has practiced really well and provides a different weapon for us.”

However, it has not translated to playing time in Durham as the Yorkville, Illinois native has only played in seven games for the Blue Devils and has not seen the floor since Duke’s embarrassing loss against North Carolina State on February 8.

Jaden Schutt, in his limited time on the court, is 5-for-10 from 3-point range.

Freshman forward Mark Mitchell is statistically the team’s best 3-point shooter at 41.9-percent (13-of-31) while the now injured Whitehead was connecting at a 37.3-percent (22-of-59).

Tipoff between Duke and Georgia Tech (8-12, 1-9 ACC) is scheduled for 3:00p.m. EST (ACC Network) from McCamish Pavilion.