San Antonio
A short five months earlier — and half a world away — Tyrese Proctor took Jon Scheyer’s call, agreeing to change his life’s trajectory and, eventually, Duke basketball’s fate.
“Eventually” is doing a lot of heavy lifting in that sentence, because in October 2022, in his first college basketball experience with Duke against another team, Proctor had a tough day scrimmaging against Houston.
“It was physical as hell,” Proctor said. “Knocked on my ass a couple times. It was good. It was just a different type of game.”
Proctor wasn’t expected to be there. But in May 2022, the month after he became Duke’s head coach following Mike Krzyzewski’s retirement, Scheyer asked Proctor to leave his native Australia a year earlier than planned and begin his Duke career.
The full-circle moment of this tale? Saturday night, Duke plays Houston at the Final Four, with the winner advancing to Monday night’s NCAA Tournament championship game.
Proctor is the only Duke player who saw action in that scrimmage still with the Blue Devils. He’s also the only one who played when they beat Houston, 54-51, in last season’s NCAA Tournament.
Duke’s Tyrese Proctor (5) celebrates as time expires in Duke’s 54-51 victory over Houston in their NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 game at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, Friday, March 29, 2024. Ethan Hyman [email protected]
‘He came in as a boy’
It all started with that phone call to Australia, when Scheyer desperately needed another guard for his first Duke team.
“Probably the worst and the best thing we could have done,” Scheyer now says of that decision.
That scrimmage against Houston was eye-opening, causing Scheyer to look back this week and say, “Tyrese, he came in as a boy.”
Proctor stayed tough, endured more tough days like that, but is now a steady leader for the nation’s No. 1-ranked team, a Duke squad that’s only lost one game over the last four months.
Duke head coach Jon Scheyer talks with Tyrese Proctor (5) during the first half of Duke’s game against Kansas in the State Farm Champions Classic in Indianapolis, Ind. Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2022. Ethan Hyman [email protected]
“I sort of came in not knowing what to expect, in a sense,” Proctor said. “I knew it was going to be ups and downs, but I think I’ve had more downs than ups. I think just being able to stick through it and trust myself has been a good thing coming out on the back end.”
In this day and age, just three years later, Scheyer says he’d now probably look at adding a veteran guard through the transfer portal rather than asking a player like Proctor to come a year early.
At the same time, Scheyer is convinced that, though throwing Proctor to college basketball’s proverbial wolves quicker than expected was difficult, the Blue Devils are only on the precipice of a national championship because he did.
“I’m so glad I made that decision,” Scheyer said. “Look, we’ve had great success, 27 wins in the first two years, ACC championship, Elite Eight. But we probably aren’t here if we didn’t make that decision at that time for Tyrese to come early and for him to go for it.
“I think it was the best thing for him and his career, but also the best thing for us and for Duke to grow up together and to go through those moments.”
Building trust
Proctor was a big part of Scheyer’s first two teams, which each ended with 27-9 records. The 2022-23 team won the ACC championship. Last season, Duke advanced to within one win of the Final Four before losing in the Elite Eight.
But something good happened, for Proctor, in the final game of his freshman season. Duke lost, 65-52, to Tennessee in an NCAA Tournament second-round game at Orlando, but Proctor scored 14 of his team-best 16 points in the second half.
Duke’s Tyrese Proctor (5) drives to the basket against Tennessee’s Jonas Aidoo (0) during the second half in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday, March 18, 2023 at the Amway Center in Orlando, Fla. Proctor lead Duke with 16 points in their 65-52 loss. Robert Willett [email protected]
His comfort level with the pace of high-level college basketball improved.
“I think the biggest thing is the game slowed down for me a little bit,” Proctor said. “Obviously, when you first come to college, there’s a lot more better athletes, and guys have been in college for three, four years, five years now, so I think the pace of the game just slowing down. That just helps me with my reads and stuff like that.”
He said it carried over to his sophomore year. But injuries derailed his progress. He missed a month with an ankle injury in December and suffered a concussion that sidelined him again in February.
Through all that, he still averaged 10.5 points, a slight increase over his 9.4 scoring average as a freshman. His defensive play, particularly in the game’s final minutes, helped Duke beat Houston in the NCAA Tournament South Regional semifinals. But Proctor went scoreless, missing all nine shots, when the Blue Devils suffered a disheartening 76-64 loss to N.C. State two nights later.
Duke’s Tyrese Proctor (5) and his teammates leave the court following their 79-64 loss to N.C. State in the quarterfinals of the ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament at Capitol One Arena on Wednesday, March 13, 2024 in Washington, D.C. Robert Willett [email protected]
After that game, before the team left Dallas’ American Airlines Center, Scheyer said Proctor told him he’d be coming back for his junior season. His trust in Scheyer and Duke was not shaken.
“We’ve always been close,” Proctor said. “So that’s one thing, I think, just that open communication has just been continued throughout the whole three years I’ve been here. Like I’ve said before, he’s willing to have those tough conversations that I might not want to hear, my family might not want to hear, but it’s the best for both of us. And, I mean, really, the best for me, and that’s all he cares about.”
‘A complete guard’
Scheyer broke down the roster, lost players to the transfer portal, but added veteran transfers Sion James, Maliq Brown and Mason Gillis to go with Proctor, sophomore Caleb Foster and the nation’s No. 1-rated recruiting class, led by Cooper Flagg.
Proctor, while working on his own game, took it upon himself to welcome all the newcomers and help the disparate pieces form important bonds.
“Tyrese was the one that got us all together from the beginning,” James said. “He was the one calling us and saying, ‘Hey, let’s go to Coach’s house or let’s come hang out with me. Let’s go get dinner.’ Really bringing us together as a team, kind of showing what the brotherhood was. He gave us an example really early on.”
Duke guard Tyrese Proctor (5) reacts after sinking a three point basket to take an 83-63 lead over Alabama with one minute to play on Saturday, March 29, 2025 during the NCAA East Regional final at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. Robert Willett [email protected]
On the court, Proctor averaged 12.5 points and 2.2 assists per game. He started all 37 games in which he’s played, missing only one February game as a result of a bruised left knee. His 3-point shooting percentage, after being 32% as a freshman and 35.2% as a sophomore, has soared to 41.2%.
Now, he is preparing to face Houston again. Some of those same players from that scrimmage still play for the Cougars, like 6-3 junior guard Emanuel Sharp. Another veteran guard, L.J. Cryer, played against Proctor in last season’s Duke-Houston clash.
He knows Houston. The Cougars know him.
Scheyer knows this: The Blue Devils are in as good a position as they can be to get the win because of all he and Proctor have been through together.
“I think he just has shown so much toughness throughout his three years,” Scheyer said. “He’s playing at such a high level ‘cause he’s as good of a two-way guard to me as there is in college. What he does on the defensive end, how he’s been ready to shoot, his play making, toughness. He’s just become a complete guard.
“In order to become that, you have to go through some moments like that day at Houston. So I feel so confident having Tyrese on our team. Just for him, just going through those moments, he’s become even tougher and better.”
