Trip to Orlando is “second homecoming” for Dariq Whitehead
Duke’s freshman spent five years at Montverde Academy, which is about half an hour from where Duke will begin the NCAA tournament
ORLANDO, Fla. – Maybe Dariq Whitehead could be Duke’s tour guide for the Orlando area — if not for the Blue Devils’ schedule being scripted out upon arrival for the NCAA tournament.
“Going to Montverde (Academy), being down here for five years, everybody keeps calling it a second homecoming,” Whitehead said Wednesday afternoon, before Duke’s open practice ahead of the NCAA tournament.
Duke is the No. 5 seed in the East Region and plays Oral Roberts on Thursday night, meaning Whitehead’s NCAA tournament debut will come within an hour of where he played home games for the past five years.
Montverde Academy is a 33-minute drive from Amway Center, according to Google. It’s a haven for the top basketball players in the country, attracting Whitehead’s family to send him down here for five years from New Jersey.
Duke signee Sean Stewart is in his senior season, while targets Asa Newell and Cooper Flagg are also with the Eagles.
That was Whitehead until this season at Duke, obviously.
“I’m just looking forward to getting out here and playing in front of the people I haven’t played in front of for a year, and getting a win,” Whitehead said. “I do know I got a lot of things accomplished in my five years of being down here.
“I talked to Coach (Jon Scheyer) and he said, ‘You’re used to winning down there,’ so that’s just something I’ve got to make sure I do.”
Montverde is the two-time defending national champion on the high school level and has won six titles in the last 10 years. Whitehead had 14 points in the championship game last year.
As far as the tour guide aspect of things, that’s kind of all there is: Whitehead doesn’t have much input on the schedule and where the Blue Devils go while they’re not on the basketball court while here.
Nor does he want any.
“I told them we’re down here for business, wherever they want to eat at is where we’ll eat at,” Whitehead said. “My goal right now is just to worry about things on the court.”
One of his teammates, though, mentioned one of the Orlando-specific things Whitehead will do.
“He’s got his guy coming down to give him a haircut,” sophomore Jaylen Blakes said. “So, you know, he knows his ins and outs around here.”