Duke men’s basketball’s unfortunate history of significant foot injuries continued this week when top recruit Dariq Whitehead underwent surgery Tuesday to repair a fracture in his right foot.
He is out indefinitely, according to the school, but will begin rehab immediately and is expected to return sometime “this fall.”
The school announced that Whitehead, the No. 2 recruit in the 2022 class and a projected top-10 pick in ESPN’s 2023 NBA draft rankings, suffered the injury during a team workout on Monday
“We are happy to share that Dariq underwent a successful procedure today, and is in the best care with our doctors and rehabilitation staff,” said head coach Jon Scheyer in the release. “We’re confident he’ll be back on the court soon.”
Whitehead, a guard who won the Naismith Smith High School Player of the Year award and secured a spot on the McDonald’s All-America team last year, is expected to play a key role on Scheyer’s squad in Duke’s first season without Mike Krzyzewski since 1980.
Duke has been affected by foot injuries multiple times over the last 40 years. Former standouts Chris Collins, Carlos Boozer, Elton Brand, Daniel Ewing, Kyrie Irving, Ryan Kelly, Marshall Plumlee and Jayson Tatum all missed time during their careers at Duke due to foot injuries.