CHARLOTTE – It’s almost easy to forget that Tyrese Proctor and Caleb Foster were in the same recruiting class for a while.

The only two scholarship players on Duke’s roster who have played for the Blue Devils were both in the Class of 2023. That changed with a domino effect; first with Trevor Keels electing to stay in the 2022 NBA draft, meaning Duke needed more backcourt help going into Jon Scheyer’s first season, leading to Proctor reclassifying and coming to Durham a year early.

So, at one point the guards of the future who were separated by a reclass, are now joined together — in a few ways.

“We were close last year but you know, I’m living with him now and we’ve just spent a lot of time talking about our team and just each other,” Proctor said, “getting to know each other more and you have to have that if you’re going to be the two main guards on such a big stage.”

The stage Proctor was talking about will be the spotlight Duke plays in this season, given a presumed top-10 ranking, the Cooper Flagg hysteria that’ll follow the team, and the general championship-or-bust expectations the Blue Devils deal with every year.

The stage Proctor and Foster were on Wednesday was smaller, as the Blue Devils took their turn at ACC Tipoff in the Hilton Charlotte Uptown for the league’s preseason media event.

Scheyer was accompanied by the only two returning scholarship players. They’ve been joined by a six-man freshman class and a trio of transfers expected to provide toughness and leadership. Mason Gillis (Purdue), Sion James (Tulane) and Maliq Brown (Syracuse) have seen plenty in a combined 10 seasons at their respective schools.

They, nor the freshmen, have had the same experience as Proctor and Foster.

“Me and C-Fos are the leaders this year and we’ve just gotta make sure everyone is on the same page and just try to get the freshmen up to speed as much as possible,” Proctor said. “I’m going to be the head of the ship this year, so I’ve got to make sure I’m level-headed the whole year.”

Proctor was a captain last year and has put a burden on himself since about halfway through his freshman season to be more of a vocal leader.

Growing into a leadership role has been a different process for Foster.

The 6-5, 202-pounder isn’t the most outgoing player in Duke’s locker room. He and fellow freshman Jared McCain were polar opposites in that light last year.

Which is why it’s been curious to see Foster take over The Brotherhood podcast hosting duties.

“At first, I was like, ‘Ahhhhhhh, that’s not me.’ But then I got into it and I got comfortable. I really enjoy it,” Foster said.

Curious … and beneficial.

Foster interviewed teammates and former players, Jared and Jayce McCain together, all throughout the summer. It brought him out of his comfort zone in the same way that stepping into a leadership role is something that’s required of him this year and wasn’t in his lane last year.

“Honestly, my parents pushed for it really hard. It wasn’t really a thing I was high on but I was like, ‘You know what? It’s time for me to step out of my comfort zone,’” Foster said. “Leading into a new role where I need to be a leader, so stepping out of my comfort zone was something that was really big for me.”