Duke basketball: Jon Scheyer discusses status of injured players

One of two injured Duke basketball freshmen looks likely to play this week.

The shorthanded Duke basketball team didn't appear to need any extra help on Monday night while starting the Jon Scheyer era on a positive note with a no-sweat 71-44 home win over Jacksonville.

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But the schedule soon strengthens. With that in mind, it ought to help the preseason No. 7 Blue Devils to soon have their two highest-rated freshmen on the court.

For now, though, Duke remains without the services of center Dereck Lively II and small forward Dariq Whitehead. They arrived in Durham as the top two prospects on the 247Sports 2022 Composite, but each suffered an injury in the past few months.

That said, judging by Scheyer's comments to the media after the squad's feel-good season opener, it seems Lively is on the verge of making his Blue Devil debut.

"I think Dereck has a great shot at playing on Friday," Scheyer said about Duke's meeting with visiting USC Upstate at 6:30 p.m. ET.

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Dereck Lively II, a 7-foot-1 projected one-and-done lottery pick, strained a muscle in his calf last month, missed the Blue Devils' scrimmages and exhibition, and was in street clothes alongside Whitehead on Monday night.

As for Dariq Whitehead's setback, he fractured a bone in his right foot at the end of August and has not participated in any live-action contact drills since. However, according to Scheyer, the 6-foot-7 explosive playmaker is now ready to ramp up his participation in practice but won't play against USC Upstate.

"[Lively and Whitehead] really have made some big strides in their health," Scheyer explained. "The biggest thing is playing through contact...The thing for Dariq now, he gets to start playing through contact. So we've really progressed him where he's doing basically everything. And he's looking really good, had a great workout today, but now he needs to take the next step of playing through contact and building up conditioning — and same with Dereck."

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