Published Mar 27, 2023
Tyrese Proctor announces return for sophomore season
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Conor O'Neill  •  DevilsIllustrated
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Duke’s freshman point guard will be back after season of progression, growth

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Tyrese Proctor will play at least one season with the class he originally committed with.

Proctor announced Monday morning that he will return to Duke for his sophomore season. The 6-5 point guard from Australia was originally in the Class of 2023, but he reclassified last offseason after Trevor Keels opted to remain in the NBA draft.

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Proctor’s return is the first domino to fall among the Blue Devils’ underclassmen — Ryan Young has already said he’s returning — with decisions to make. In the coming days, it’s expected that freshmen Dariq Whitehead, Dereck Lively II, Kyle Filipowski and Mark Mitchell, as well as junior Jeremy Roach, will make announcements on their futures at Duke.

Before we know any of those decisions, we know Duke will return a point guard who grew into his role this season.

The 6-5, 175-pounder played off of the ball for most of the first two months. His move to the point guard was necessitated by Roach sitting out for three games to rest the toe injury he initially suffered in November.

In Duke’s first 16 games, Proctor scored in double figures four times (two of those were against mid-majors). In Duke’s last 20 games, Proctor scored in double figures 14 times.

Proctor started all but two of Duke’s 36 games this season. He finished third on the team in scoring (9.4) and his 3.3 assists per game led the Blue Devils.

The two double-doubles he had this season help illustrate how his role changed; one was a 13-point, 10-rebound game against Delaware in the fourth game of the season, and the other was an 11-point, 10-assist game against Pittsburgh in the ACC tournament.

In Duke’s last nine games, Proctor had 11.2 points, 4.2 assists and 2.9 rebounds per game, and only committed 10 turnovers. He was Duke’s leading scorer (16 points) in the second-round loss to Tennessee.

Proctor — and possibly Roach, if he returns for his senior season — will be joined by a pair of combo guards who are in the top 20 of the Rivals150 in Jared McCain (No. 12) and Caleb Foster (No. 18).