5-Star Duke Freshman Dariq Whitehead Undergoes Surgery for Foot Injury

The Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team has an injury concern before the 2022-23 season even begins.

Duke announced freshman forward Dariq Whitehead underwent successful surgery on his fractured right foot on Tuesday. He suffered the injury during a team workout 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," head coach Jon Scheyer said. "We're confident he'll be back on the court soon."

The announcement said he is expected to be ready to play by the fall.

Whitehead was part of a highly touted freshman group and was a 5-star prospect, the No. 2 overall player, the No. 1 small forward and the No. 1 player from the state of New Jersey in the class of 2022, per 247Sports' composite rankings.

He was a featured piece of a class that was ranked No. 1 in the nation and also includes fellow 5-star prospects Dereck Lively II, Kyle Filipowski and Mark Mitchell.

With that comes high expectations, but he has already embraced them.

"I mean that's, honestly, the main thing in winning the national championship," Whitehead said this summer, per Steve Wiseman of the News & Observer.

ESPN's Jeff Borzello ranks Duke No. 5 in the country, so those expectations are not unwarranted. Yet having Whitehead back and ready to play early in a difficult schedule will be key since the Blue Devils face Kansas, Ohio State and Iowa in nonconference play and will also participate in the Phil Knight Legacy tournament where they will face either Xavier or Florida.

Duke opens the 2022-23 campaign on Nov. 7 against Jacksonville at Cameron Indoor Stadium.