LOOK: Duke honors Cameron Indoor Stadium first responders who saved parent of Ohio State player in November
When Duke and Ohio State met at Cameron Indoor Stadium in late November 2022, it was a highly-anticipated installment of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. For some first responders staffing the game, it ended up being a night of heroics.
Just past the midpoint of the first half of that Nov. 30 contest, Jeff McNeil, the father of Ohio State guard Sean McNeil, had a heart attack in the stands. Packed into the arena seats on the road, the best bet for McNeil was a quick, competent reaction from the Cameron Indoor Stadium medical staff and first responders.
“This group helped save his life and he’s doing well!” the Duke men’s basketball Twitter account wrote, in part.
He got just that. And what could’ve been a tragedy instead finished with a lovely coda as Duke honored the first responders on Tuesday.
Duke head coach Jon Scheyer provided a health update on Dariq Whitehead
Duke freshman Dariq Whitehead has been in and out of the Blue Devil’s lineup all season. Whether it be for illness or lingering injury, the former five-star and No. 2 player in On3’s Consensus Rankings has missed five of his team’s 21 games this season.
Now, ahead of their matchup against Wake Forest on Tuesday, Jon Scheyer says Whitehead may miss another. Per Brendan Marks of The Athletic, Scheyer said Whitehead had ‘a really good day’ working out on Sunday but that, unless he practices sometime between now and tipoff tomorrow evening, he will miss his second consecutive game.
Whitehead has averaged 8.4 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 1.2 assists in just over 20 minutes per game. He had actually started to find his footing in Duke’s lineup with six double-figure scoring games in his last eight. However, continuing to miss games, which this time is related to a leg injury he suffered at Virginia Tech, isn’t doing him or his team any favors.