Tyrese Proctor did not travel to Florida State, ruled out with concussion

Tyrese Proctor did not travel with Duke for Saturday’s game against Florida State, the program announced. He is dealing with a concussion and was ruled out.

Proctor is a key piece of the Blue Devils offense, averaging a team-high 3.5 assists while also adding 10.0 points and 2.9 rebounds. He suffered the injury last time out against Wake Forest, and it will keep him out for Saturday’s game, as well. In 25 minutes of play, Proctor had four rebounds and two assists.

Duke enters Saturday with a 19-5 overall record and a 10-3 record in ACC play. The Blue Devils have won six of their last seven entering the matchup against Florida State, which tips off at 2 p.m. ET.

During Saturday’s March Madness preview show, Duke came in as a No. 3 seed in the West Region and the No. 12 overall seed in the field. The Blue Devils were one of two ACC teams in the field, and Clemson is “fighting” to be the No. 16 overall seed, according to selection committee chairman Charles McClelland.

However, it might not be the year the ACC wants when the bracket comes out in a month, according to On3’s James Fletcher III. While it could wind up being as many as five bids, it still might not be as many as the league wants.

“The ACC, they are in trouble for a 15-team league,” Fletcher said during Friday’s episode of Andy Staples On3. “A [league] that, historically, is one of the best college basketball conferences that we have — to be struggling the way that they are, it is a real problem for them. And it’s going to come down to the wire for how many teams they get in the field this year.”

Not too long ago, the conversation surrounding the ACC was only getting two teams into the tournament. Both Duke and North Carolina were playing well but nobody behind them was showing why they could earn potential at-large bids.

Thankfully, a few teams have stepped up and Selection Sunday should not be as dire as thought a couple of weeks ago. As many as five teams could hear their name called, depending on who winds up winning the ACC Tournament.

“Just a few weeks ago, we had national pundits in college basketball talking about a potential two-bid ACC,” Fletcher said. “Now, that was never really going to happen. Clemson was always going to find their footing a little bit. Wake Forest has looked good. And now, we’ve seen Virginia until that loss this weekend.”

Griffin McVeigh contributed to this report.