Duke gets positive news on Dariq Whitehead after Monday injury

DURHAM – The worst-case scenario was avoided with Dariq Whitehead’s injured left leg against Virginia Tech on Monday night.

Coach Jon Scheyer said on Thursday afternoon that the Duke freshman has a strain, and that the program is taking things on a day-by-day basis. He won’t play Saturday at Georgia Tech.

“We need to get him fully healthy and we’ll take it from there,” Scheyer said. “We’ve gotten positive news, but he’s not going to be ready for Saturday.”

Early in the second half of Monday night’s game, Whitehead landed awkwardly while trying to deny a post-entry pass. He crumpled to the floor in obvious pain before trying to finish the defensive possession, and when play was stopped he skip/hopped to Duke’s bench.

After receiving medical attention on the bench, he was helped off the court by teammates Christian Reeves and Kale Catchings and didn’t return to Duke’s bench for the rest of the game, a 78-75 loss.

“He’s been out, hasn’t been able to practice yet,” Scheyer said. “We want to take it slow, be cautious. … I don’t want to speculate on time because we don’t know, but it’s not going to be Saturday.”

It’s the second injury of the season for Whitehead, who also missed Duke’s loss at Wake Forest on Dec. 20 because of an illness.

Whitehead suffered a fracture in his right foot in the preseason, which cost him roughly two months of practice time and caused him to miss the first three games of the season.

The freshman is averaging 8.4 points this season, shooting 36.7% on 3-pointers. He had 10 points against the Hokies before suffering the injury.