By: Ben McCormick
October 16, 2022
Dariq Whitehead Injury
At ACC Tipoff last Wednesday Oct. 12, head coach Jon Scheyer said that Whitehead's recovery from his ankle surgery in late August is going well. He went on to say that while there is no timetable for Whitehead's return, he has begun to get on the floor again.
Although it seems unlikely that he will return to play in the Blue/White scrimmage at Countdown to Craziness or the secret scrimmage at Houston, Duke fans should still be optimistic that he may return before the season opener, or at least the Kansas game.
Monitoring how he is moving, if and when he gets shots up at Countdown may be important.
How well will Dereck Lively space the floor?
Lively was the nation's top prospect in high school, in part thanks to his 7'1 frame and athleticism, but also thanks to his ability to stretch the floor. While he doesn't hang his hat on three point shooting, Lively has the ability to shoot it. It may prove to be the difference maker for a good offensive season for the freshman big.
Fellow 5-star big Kyle Filipowski is known as a stretch four. If Lively can step out and make jump shots at a consistent rate, that will keep the defense honest and open up a lot of driving lanes for the Blue Devils this season.
First headband in Duke Basketball history
Word has been circulating around about whether there has been a player to wear a headband while at Duke before. Many fans have racked their brain, but there doesn't seem to be any evidence of anyone having worn one in the past.
Many have gone on to wear one in the NBA (e.g., Seth Currry, Corey Maggette, etc.), but never while at Duke. That may be due to a program rule set in place by Coach K. For many years he would not allow players to wear T-shirts under their jerseys until he finally caved and allowed J.J. Redick to nearly two decades ago.
Now, graduate transfer Jacob Grandison looks to become the first Blue Devil to ever wear a headband in game. This was confirmed in a recent social media post in which freshman Kyle Filipowski stated that Grandison would in fact be the first Duke player to dawn a headband.
The transfers
Speaking of Grandison, Duke has four transfers on roster this season. Grandison, from Illinois; Ryan Young, from Northwestwrn; Kale Catchings, from Harvard; and Max Johns, from Princeton. Young and Gradison look to play major roles for Scheyer's young team, and seeing how they matchup up with the talented freshman will be interesting to watch.
Recruits in attendance
2024 4-star Darren Harris was in Durham this weekend for an official visit. Next weekend 2024 5-star guard Dylan Harper will be on campus for Countdown, as will 2023 commits Mackenzie Mgbako and Sean Stewart. Be on the lookout for the Crazies' annual "Sit with us" chant.
New traditions?
There's a new head coach and a lot of new faces on the team, and now more than ever there is potential for new traditions to begin at CTC that diverge from the Coach K era. It should be a really fun night as Duke fans get the 2022-2023 started.
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