Duke basketball: Dariq Whitehead still questionable for Miami game

The status of Duke basketball freshman forward Dariq Whitehead is still unknown. 

It feels like the Duke basketball team not having freshman forward Dariq Whitehead for its chaotic victory on Saturday night over North Carolina has become an afterthought.

Whitehead, who has been practicing with the Blue Devils, was ruled out by the program early Saturday afternoon for the third consecutive game since suffering a lower leg injury against Virginia Tech on January 23.

Jon Scheyer appeared to indicate earlier in the week that things were trending in the right direction for the five-star forward to play against the Tar Heels but after 63-57 victory the Duke head coach told the media that Whitehead was dealing with “stiffness” in practice on Friday.

“Dariq [Whitehead] is doing great,” Scheyer added.

“He’s really close to full health. The next thing is just being game ready.”

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Whitehead was averaging 11.1 points per game since December 10 as he looked to get his rhythm back after missing nearly all of the preseason, and the first three games of the regular season, with a broken foot.

“He can add just a different dimension to our team,” the Duke head coach continued.

Dariq Whitehead went through a workout on the court inside Cameron Indoor Stadium prior to Saturday’s game and has been seen getting shots up with the team ever since the injury.

Duke basketball staying quiet on Dariq Whitehead status

It is likely that Duke will provide a further update on the status of Dariq Whitehead as tipoff (7:00p.m. EST, ESPN) inched closer on Monday night against No. 23 Miami but Jon Scheyer did not have an concrete update as of Saturday night.

“I don’t know about Monday yet,” Scheyer explained on Whitehead’s status.

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“We felt like this was the next step to just be out there and test [the injury] and see how it feels…We want him 100-percent healthy.”

Dariq Whitehead scored 10 points on 3-of-9 shooting in Duke’s victory over then No. 17 Miami on January 21 and scoring production from the Blue Devil bench has been very limited since the Newark, New Jersey native left the rotation, scoring just 17 total points in its last two games.