Dariq Whitehead is definitely not varnished in terms of injuries in recent months. Victim of a broken right foot last summer, the young winger had been operated on and then missed the first month of the Duke season.
Arrived in the rotation in mid-November, he had finally managed to jump on the bandwagon to deliver a shortened but correct “freshman” season (8.3 points and 2.4 rebounds), even if he had not been able to evolve at the level expected after a big career in high school. Elected “Player Of The Year” at the end of his “senior” season, he had actually joined Duke by being ranked 2nd among the best players in his age group…
His season would therefore have been more successful without this major physical glitch, and ESPN also reports on this subject that he will have to undergo a second operation to fully heal this fracture, because his healing after the first operation did not go as planned. According to our colleagues, this second operation, if it will deprive him of the Draft Combine, should however not prevent him from being ready for the start of his “rookie” season in the NBA.
On the other hand, his rating could take a hit, once again, when he landed in Durham at the start of the 2022 school year, being considered a certain “lottery pick”.
Today rather projected around 25th place after this half-hearted “freshman” season, he could continue to slide, until the second round, after this new setback that is not very reassuring on the physical level…
