Tyrese Proctor recalls process that led him to Duke

Duke guard Tyrese Proctor had a long journey to Durham, North Carolina from Sydney, Australia to begin his collegiate basketball career. He stood out for the Blue Devils in his freshman season last year, and on the ‘The Brotherhood Podcast’ with teammate Ryan Young, he shared what how his journey to Duke unfolded.

“It happened so quick bro, it was 2021 or 2, I can’t remember,” Proctor admitted. “I was playing in a tournament, that’s when I first got the interest, and then the start of last year I got offered and within a month or two I found out I was coming here.”

Proctor attended the NBA Global Academy branch in Canberra, Australia, where he was a four-star prospect ranked the No. 6 point guard and the No. 47 overall player of the 2022 class according to On3’s Industry Ranking.

He was supposed to graduate and be a member of the 2023 class, but reclassified when the potential opportunity to play at Duke earlier arose depending on the NBA Draft decision of former Blue Devil guard Trevor Keels.

“So it all happened really quick, but it sort of just dependent on Trevor’s decision and then he left it till the last minute of the window or something like that. So we’re just waiting patiently and had calls with Scheyer and the guys here for a couple weeks,” Proctor said. “I thought I wanted to come early anyway, I thought it was good for my development and it worked out pretty well.”

Keels did end up keeping his name in the 2022 NBA Draft, and was selected with the No. 42 overall pick in the second round by the New York Knicks. Which allowed Proctor to enroll a year early at Duke, a plan that himself and head coach Jon Scheyer had their eye on throughout his recruitment.

“He sort of just raised the idea that it could happen and he was really keen on me coming here if that was the case. He couldn’t like say if Trevor was going or staying, but he had a fair idea. So yeah, we just played it by ear,” Proctor explained.

Proctor’s head start wound up being a success, as he started all but two games for the Blue Devils in his freshman season and was named to the ACC All-Freshman Team. He was Duke’s third-leading scorer last season, averaging 9.4 points per game and leading the team with 3.3 assists per game.

He was very efficient for the Blue Devils in year one, also leading the team in free throw percentage shooting 87.1% from the line and boasting a 2.05 assist-to-turnover ratio trailing only five other freshmen in the nation.

Proctor returns to Duke next season along with the team’s first and third leading scorers from last season in Kyle Filipowsk and Jeremy Roach, as he and the Blue Devils continue to work towards taking a leap in the program’s second season under Scheyer.