Duke recruit Dariq Whitehead named SIAA Player of Year

McDonalds MVP and incoming Duke freshman adds to honors

Dariq Whitehead added to his 2022 honors when the senior Duke commit from Montverde (Fla.) Academy was named the SI All-American Player of the Year.

Whitehead guided the Eagles to the GEICO Nationals title, averaging 16.5 points, five rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.5 steals a game for Montverde.

He also took home MVP honors at the McDonald’s All American Game and led Team USA with 17 points to a win at the Nike Hoop Summit.

Whitehead spoke to SIAA about his honor and his busy offseason of All-Star Games. The GEICO title came on the same day that his future school lost to UNC in the Final Four, ending coach Mike Krzyzewski’s career.

“It was a bad night,” Whitehead said. “It really was, knowing that they beat us twice that season and then it just added more to it because that was Coach K’s final season. It definitely was tough seeing us take that loss.”

Earning the SIAA player of the year award helped soften the blow for Whitehead.

“It’s a blessing,” Whitehead said. “As a kid you look forward to this type of stuff. It was something I wanted to check off before my senior year started, but I didn’t think too much on it stats-wise; I just wanted to go out there and play to win. Obviously, it got the job done to win such a prestigious award being Sports Illustrated’s Player of the Year.”

Whitehead was one of three future Blue Devils on the SIAA All-American first team A total of five commits from Duke made the top two SIAA All-American teams.