Recruiting Report: Montverde’s Dariq Whitehead (2022)
Dariq Whitehead is one of the top rising sophomores in the state of Florida. The 6-foot-5 Montverde Academy forward was one of 30 national prospects invited to the USA Basketball U16 tryouts at University School in Davie. Whitehead would not…
Access all of Prep Hoops
Continue reading this article and more.
Continue ReadingDariq Whitehead is one of the top rising sophomores in the state of Florida.
The 6-foot-5 Montverde Academy forward was one of 30 national prospects invited to the USA Basketball U16 tryouts at University School in Davie.
Whitehead would not end up making the final 12-man squad, but the talented forward is expected to have a breakout season in 2019-2020.
“My eighth grade year that was the year of R.J. Barrett and them, so I sat and kind of learned,” said Whitehead, of Newark, N.J. “I learned a lot from them. So, my ninth grade year I played more. I didn’t get the minutes that I would believe, but I still took that year as a learning experience. He [head coach Kevin Boyle] said my 10th-grade year should be the year I start to play a lot and get things going.”
Whitehead was one of five prospects with Florida connections at the USA tryouts.
He is an athletic, active wing that can get out and go. He showed the ability to score in bunches and Whitehead can pressure defensively.
“I always like to compete against the best of the best and I feel like here you’ve got the opportunity to do so,” Whitehead said of the U16 invite.
This past season, he played behind senior Harlond Beverly — who would sign with the University of Miami — and junior Moses Moody on a Montverde squad that one again would reach GEICO Nationals.
Whitehead has already picked up scholarship offers from Arkansas-Little Rock, Rutgers and Seton Hall. Arizona, LSU, West Virginia, Louisville and N.C. State are among the schools showing interest.
Asked what college coaches say they like about his game, Whitehead said: “They like the way I am locked in in a game … the way I attack the basket. They’ve been watching me for a while. They say my shot has gotten way better.
“Really to me I’m just looking at what’s going to be the best fit for me. I understand, like, people go to the big-name schools because of the coaches. But at the end of the day I am going to have to go where is best for me. Where is going to get me where I need to be, where I am going to develop?”
Whitehead plays on the travel circuit with AOT in the Nike EYBL.
If you have high school or travel basketball news, you can reach Pat Lammer via e-mail at PatALammer@Gmail.com