Duke basketball: Dick Vitale breaks Dariq Whitehead news

On Thursday, Duke basketball head coach Jon Scheyer provided a promising update on freshman Dariq Whitehead. Even so, he didn't guarantee that the 6-foot-7, 220-pound forward, a projected one-and-done, will be on the court when the unranked Blue Devils face the No. 8 Virginia Cavaliers in Charlottesville at 4 p.m. ET Saturday.

Scheyer noted at the time of his press conference that Whitehead was preparing to take part in a full-contact practice for the first time since sustaining a left lower leg sprain in the first half of Duke's loss at Virginia Tech almost three weeks ago. He's missed the team's past four outings (the Blue Devils went 3-1).

But on Friday afternoon, legendary ESPN commentator Dick Vitale, who interviewed Scheyer and Virginia head coach Tony Bennett in preparation for his call tomorrow, broke the news via tweet that Dariq Whitehead will indeed be back in action against the Cavaliers.

"Coach Scheyer just told me they will be at full strength," Vitale wrote, "as the talented Dariq Whitehead will be back from a lower leg injury."

Judging by the photos of Whitehead that the Duke basketball program posted to social media on Thursday evening, one could say the 18-year-old New Jersey native, who arrived in Durham at No. 2 overall on the 247Sports 2022 Composite, looks ready to return to game action. After all, he was dunking in practice.

Across 16 appearances for the Blue Devils — he missed the first three games while recovering from a fractured right foot and sat out Duke's loss at Wake Forest in December with an illness — Whitehead is averaging 8.4 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 1.2 assists.

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