The Blue Devils have had a lot of departures this offseason so far, but one key element is missing.
On Thursday afternoon, Adam Zagoria reported that sophomore guard Tyrese Proctor will ignore the opportunity to declare for the NBA draft and instead choose his third year at Duke. The 6-foot-5 sophomore captain has been a mainstay for the Blue Devils for two seasons and will continue to be a steadying force for the young players in 2024-25.
After changing classes to come to Durham a year early for his freshman campaign, Proctor appeared in 34 contests as a rookie, leading the Blue Devils to the ACC Tournament title and the round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament. Fellow freshmen Derek Lively II and Darik Whitehead, Proctor opted to return for a sophomore season along with classmates Mark Mitchell and Kyle Filipovski, leading the Blue Devils to a preseason He helped lead them to 2nd place in the rankings.
Proctor was an integral part of head coach John Scheyer's rotation for the 2023-24 season, starting all but six of the 32 games he played in. Despite limited depth, Proctor averaged 10.5 points and 3.7 assists, both improvements from his freshman season. Field goal percentage and 3-point clip also increased by 4 percent and 3 percent, respectively, helping Duke reach the NCAA Elite Eight.
Despite his occasional erratic scoring, the Sydney native is an excellent on-ball defender and is best suited to be the offense's primary ball handler, a responsibility he will almost certainly continue to carry next season.
With Mark Mitchell departing, Proctor's return is a welcome addition. As it stands, Duke has only three decent guards on its bench in Proctor, Caleb Foster and Jalen Blakes, but the recruiting class lacks a true point guard or shooting guard. Proctor's excellent eye for passing will be a valuable asset to help tap into the talent of next year's hottest freshmen, such as five-star forward Cooper Flagg and center Carman Maluach.
Proctor is the only starter for the 2023-24 season who has so far announced a return to Durham.
The program did not immediately respond to The Chronicle's request for comment.
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| sports editor
Andrew Long is a junior at Trinity and the sports editor for Issue 119 of The Chronicle.