Five-star SF Dariq Whitehead commits to Duke

Five-star Dariq Whitehead has committed to Duke basketball for the class of 2022, per ESPN’s Paul Biancardi. Whitehead is rated a five-star prospect by On3.com for the 2022 recruiting cycle. He’s ranked as the sixth overall prospect in America in the 2022 class, according to On3.com as well.

The small forward is a native of Newark, New Jersey but plays for Montverde Academy in Montverde, Florida.

Montverde won the high school basketball national championship in 2021 and is annually among the nation’s best programs. This past April, the Eagles won their fifth national title since 2013, with a win over Sunrise Christian Academy (Bel-Aire, Kansas), 62-52.

Whitehead discussed his decision to pick the Blue Devils with ESPN.

“Growing up, Duke has always been the school of my dreams,” Whitehead told ESPN. “I loved Coach K, the style of play and the type of players he recruited. Once my recruiting process began, I started having mixed feelings seeing all the other opportunities out there. I was getting so much love from different schools it made my decision hard. It wasn’t until my official visit, the moment I stepped foot on campus, I knew Duke was home.”

The gifted five-star prospect not only chose Duke, but turned down an offer from G League Ignite worth $500,000, according to Paul Biancardi and Jeff Borzello of ESPN.

Whitehead talked about his offer from the G League as well.

“I recently had a Zoom call with Rod Strickland and Shareef Abdur-Rahim. I was grateful for their offer to be a max player in the G-League,” Whitehead said. “I was truly blessed for the G-league offer. They gave the offer the day before I was supposed to commit and I didn’t have much time to really think on it as much as I got to think about going to college.”

That’s a lot of money to turn down to play for the Blue Devils, but Whitehead will likely ink an NIL deal sometime in the future. The NIL will allow colleges to keep more top prospects like Whitehead out of the G League and playing college basketball instead.

Whitehead was outstanding in the Nike EYBL circuit this summer, averaging 16.5 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game for Team Durant. One of his best games came against UPlay Canada, when he exploded for 26 points, 12 rebounds, and four assists.

The Montverde roster for the 2021 season is expected to be loaded once again, even if they lose Jalen Duren to reclassification. Duren is expected to announce his intentions sometime in the near future.

Whitehead will be joined on the 2021 Montverde roster by Kwame Evans, Jr. and Skyy Clark. Both players are rated as five-star prospects, according to 247sports.com.

Whitehead checks in at 6’6, 190 pounds and chose the Blue Devils over offers from Florida State, Kansas, Auburn, Florida, Memphis, and others.

Check out his highlight video below, courtesy of Courtside Films.

(Photo courtesy of Dariq Whitehead/Twitter)