College Hoops World Reacts To Jon Scheyer's Announcement

Duke basketball appears to have caught a break regarding one of its freshmen starters.

Blue Devils head coach Jon Scheyer told reporters today that first-year guard Dariq Whitehead did not suffer a season-ending injury in Monday night's loss at Virginia Tech. 

Whitehead landed awkwardly after going up for a loose ball and was unable to put weight on his left leg afterwards.

The five-star recruit officially will not play this weekend against Georgia Tech--and we'd probably expect him to miss a couple of more games at least--but thankfully did not suffer a fracture of a torn Achilles as some initially feared.

"Scheyer adds that Whitehead suffered a 'strain,' but there's no official designation for his injury," said Brendan Marks of The Athletic. "Also no timetable for his return yet. Duke will wait (as it did with Whitehead's broken foot in April) until he's entirely pain-free."

"Thank God. Still, need him to come back this season," said Barstool's Zack Maccario in reaction to the update.

"Could be a lot worse," added another fan.

"BIG. Heal up, Dariq!" another Duke fan chimed in.

"Good for him. But I'd be shocked if he came back," said a Florida State fan who seems to think Whitehead might sit out to protect his NBA future.

Whitehead was the No. 2 overall recruit in the 2022 class, per 247Sports' Composite Rankings, but a broken foot hampered his development in the preseason and caused him to miss Duke's first three regular season games.

Whitehead also did not play against Wake Forest on Dec. 20 due to illness. In 16 games (six starts) this season, the 6-foot-6 wing is averaging 8.4 points and 2.3 rebounds per game while shooting 39.1% from the field, 37.3% from three-point range and 93.3% from the foul line.

Additionally, Whitehead scored in double figures in six of his last eight games before getting injured this week.