Duke basketball freshman Dariq Whitehead 'close to full health'

Duke basketball could be back to full strength on Monday night.

The emotions from Saturday night's 63-57 home win over the archrival UNC Tar Heels, not to mention the heavy load of minutes for the Duke basketball starters, could come back to bite the unranked Blue Devils (17-6, 8-4 ACC) in Monday's road outing at 7 p.m. ET against the No. 23 Miami Hurricanes (18-5, 9-4 ACC).

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Graduate wing Jacob Grandison was only the member of Duke's bench who saw more than six minutes of action against the Tar Heels. Junior captain Jeremy Roach played all 40 minutes, and his running mate in the starting backcourt, rookie guard Tyrese Proctor, played 38.

J Roach:

😈 20 points v UNC

😈 Scored 8 of team’s final 10 points

😈 2nd-straight 20-point game & 5th of career

🫡 @Jeremyroach10 pic.twitter.com/yfE9m5ImIx

— Duke Men’s Basketball (@DukeMBB) February 5, 2023

With that in mind, one would think that the Blue Devils, despite their three-game winning streak, should be hoping for the return of five-star freshman forward Dariq Whitehead at Miami following the six-time starter's absence in the past three contests. 

So will Whitehead, who has been out with the left lower leg sprain that he sustained in Duke's loss at Virginia Tech two weeks ago but took part in some warmups ahead of the UNC game, be available for the second meeting of the season with the Hurricanes? It sounds like there's a chance.

"Dariq is doing great," first-year Duke basketball head coach Jon Scheyer informed the media after Saturday's game. "For him, he's really close to full health. The next thing is just being game-ready. He can add such a different dimension to our team. I don't know about Monday yet; I have to talk to him about how he felt today. But we felt like this was the next step to just be out there and test it and see how it feels."

Dariq Whitehead, averaging 10.0 points in ACC play after spending much of the non-conference slate gaining confidence following a return from a fractured right foot in the summer, tried to practice in the days leading up to the UNC game.

However, Scheyer officially ruled him out hours before tipoff. And he explained the reasoning for that after the game.

"He was having some stiffness yesterday in practice," Scheyer said. "We want him 100 percent healthy. He's got a bright future ahead...We don't want to make this about one game. I know it's hard for him sitting and watching. But we'll get him fully back 100 percent, whatever that means in the short term here — and can't wait to get him out there."

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