Tyrese Proctor available to return for Duke's game vs. Queens

Duke basketball received some terrific news Saturday afternoon when college hoops insider Jon Rothstein reported that sophomore guard Tyrese Proctor would be available for today’s game vs. Queens.

Here was the report, which Rothstein tweeted out:

“Duke’s Tyrese Proctor (ankle) is available for today’s game against Queens, per release. Averages 10.3 PPG and 4.5 APG. Has not played since 12/2.”

The Blue Devil perimeter gets a big boost for their final game before league play gets fully underway.

Proctor initially suffered the injury back at the beginning of December during the team’s ACC opener loss to Georgia Tech. He appeared to hurt his lower leg on one of the very first possessions of the game and was helped off the court by teammates. He then remained sidelined for the rest of the contest and was seen with a large ice pack wrapped around his foot later on.

Att the beginning of the second half of that game, the Duke team Twitter account announced that Proctor had suffered a lower leg injury and would not return for the rest of the afternoon vs. the Yellow Jackets. Since that tweet was fired off four weeks ago, Proctor has not been back on the court.

Now, that appears finally set to change. Plus, head coach Jon Scheyer has been very complimentary towards Proctor and his mindset in attacking the recovery process. But also, the second-year head coach is still wise enough to know that holding Proctor back until he is fully healthy is the correct and necessary decision.

“He is recovering well,” Scheyer said a couple weeks back, via Duke on X. “He just sprained it pretty good… I do know that he is attacking his rehab every day… We want to make sure that there is nothing limiting him. There is no rush. We want him to be right, as close to 100% as possible.”

Duke is missing 10.3 points and 4.5 assists worth of production without him on the court. Through eight appearances this season, his numbers are slightly up from his stats as a true freshman.

Proctor played his high school ball at the NBA Global Academy in Sydney, Australia, where he was a four-star prospect. He was the No. 47 overall recruit in the 2022 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a proprietary algorithm that compiles ratings and rankings from all four primary recruiting media services. He was the No. 6 point guard in the class.