Whittenburg was a high school All-American for Morgan Wootten at DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, Maryland. He was paired with Sidney Lowe as a backcourt combination and together the pair helped lead DeMatha to a National Championship his junior high school year. In Whittenburg’s four years at DeMatha they only lost twelve times.
Whittenburg’s cousin was NBA star David Thompson, who had won the national championship while playing for the North Carolina State Wolfpack in 1974. Dereck sought to emulate his cousin and play for Norm Sloan at NC State where he thought he would win a National Championship. Once he and Lowe graduated from DeMatha in 1979 both players signed with the Wolfpack and went on to fulfill their dream of winning a National Championship at NC State University.
