Duke Recruiting: A Draftnik’s Analysis of Tyrese Proctor

Arguably the biggest unknown on Duke’s roster entering the fall is Tyrese Proctor. The Australian guard reclassified to join the Blue Devils a year earlier than expected, with speculation that the move was driven by him being draft eligible in 2023. But coming from overseas, the scouting report on Proctor is inconsistent, as is his draft projection.

At least one draftnik thinks that Proctor could have a much bigger impact on Duke’s success this season than many expect, though. Alex Walulik, who covers high school sports for the Boston Globe as well as the Boston Celtics, recently published one of the most in-depth analyses of Proctor’s game to date.

Walulik highlights a few elements of Proctor’s game that bode well for his impact this fall. The first is his decision making in the pick-and-roll: with a glut of skilled and mobile bigs, Proctor is sure to have plenty of opportunities to exploit those skills in a Duke uniform.

The second is his proficiency creating his own offense off the dribble. Outside of Jeremy Roach, it’s unclear who else on the Duke roster can be relied on to create their own offense in late shot clock situations (Dariq Whitehead is a strong candidate, but was known more for his all-around game than his offensive prowess in high school). According to Walulik, Proctor may be ready for that role sooner rather than later.

The third is the ability to play off the ball. Walulik highlights Proctor’s cutting ability as a plus as well as his ability to make contested three-point shots. Both will be key to Proctor’s fit alongside Roach, who as Duke’s unquestioned leader will be seeing a vast majority of the minutes on the ball.

Given those skills and his solid size and length for a guard, Walulik considers Proctor a potential lottery selection. If Proctor indeed develops into that strong of an offensive option, it could answer a lot of questions about Duke’s secondary scoring behind Roach and Whitehead and significantly raise the Blue Devils’ ceiling this season.