Duke basketball: Dariq Whitehead advances another step toward debut

It sounds unlikely that Duke basketball small forward Dariq Whitehead will suit up for the No. 7 Blue Devils' Champions Classic matchup against No. 6 Kansas in Indianapolis at 9:30 p.m. ET Tuesday.

That said, an update from first-year head coach Jon Scheyer on Monday suggests the 6-foot-7, 220-pound five-star freshman is close to making his college debut as he advances in the final stage of his recovery from the right foot fracture he suffered in late August.

"He played five-on-five yesterday for the first time and is progressing really well," Scheyer told the media about Dariq Whitehead during his press conference in Durham, hours before the team boarded the plane for Indy.

Although Scheyer then implied that work remains for Whitehead to see game action, he appeared pleased with the projected one-and-done lottery pick's dedication to returning to full strength eventually.

"He still needs to get back in his best shape possible," Scheyer explained. "He's taken a big jump, though, working hard, and he's stacking days right now, which is exactly what we want him to do...He's attacking it every day, so we can't wait to get him back with us here soon."

As for the other star-studded newcomer who saw a delay to his first Duke basketball show, center Dereck Lively II scored four points across his 15 minutes in Friday night's 84-38 home win over USC Upstate after missing the season-opening 71-44 home win over Jacksonville four nights earlier while bouncing back from a calf injury.

Scheyer said Lively has advanced to the point he feels more than comfortable potentially giving the agile 7-footer a significantly heavier workload against the Jayhawks.

"He's ready," Scheyer proclaimed. "He's feeling great. And he's ready to take that next step now."

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