Tag: Tyrese Proctor

NBA scout praises Tyrese Proctor performance at Chris Paul Elite Camp

Duke guard Tyrese Proctor, one of two returning Blue Devils, needs a junior jump to solidify himself as an NBA prospect. One scout thinks he might get one.

Duke basketball star [autotag]Tyrese Proctor[/autotag] will return to Durham for the 2024-25 season, making him one of two Blue Devils starters back in Cameron Indoor Stadium. The Australian guard led the team with 3.7 assists per game last season, but some inconsistencies as a scorer and a shot-creator meant he couldn’t capitalize on the lottery promise he brought to Duke.

Unless he takes a leap as a junior in 2024-25. And according to one NBA scout after the 2024 Chris Paul Elite Camp, that might be what’s coming.

Jon Chepkevich, the Director of Scouting for DraftExpress, raved about Proctor’s performance at the offseason camp.

“Proctor showed encouraging signs of progress,” he wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. “Knocked down shots, facilitated with poise, and used his size to his advantage defensively. Looks to have added some strength to his frame.”

He accompanied the takeaway with a quick highlight compilation of Proctor’s performance at the camp.

Standing out at the Chris Paul camp is no small feat. College stars like North Carolina‘s RJ Davis and Elliot Cadeau, Wake Forest’s Hunter Sallis, and Indiana’s Kanaan Carlyle all made the trip, as did Proctor’s future teammate [autotag]Sion James[/autotag].

The best photos from Tyrese Proctor’s 2023-24 season with Duke basketball

Here are some of the best photos from Tyrese Proctor, one of two returning Duke starters from 2023-24, as a sophomore with the Blue Devils.

When he first committed to the Duke basketball program, fans might not have expected three seasons of [autotag]Tyrese Proctor[/autotag].

After all, how many four-star and five-star prospects stay in college for multiple seasons anymore? Proctor came to Durham with lottery promise, and despite some inconsistencies on the offensive end, he’s shown some elite traits on the defensive end and as a distributor. He averaged a team-high 3.7 assists last season despite only playing 30 minutes per game, and the 6-foot-6 Australian seems poised to take a step forward now that he’s the elder statesman in the room.

There are older players on the 2024-25 Duke basketball roster, but none of them have spent more time with the Blue Devils than Proctor. Despite his new status as a locker room leader, he’s still only 20 years old, and he’s one great season from being a first-round draft pick in 2025.

Here are the best photos from Proctor’s sophomore season in Durham, from the fall through the Elite Eight.

Duke basketball freshman Kon Knueppel shows off 3-point shooting in new video

Kon Knueppel, an upcoming freshman on the Duke basketball team, almost knocked down 30 3-pointers in a row in a new practice video.

If you thought the hype for Duke basketball’s 2024 recruiting class couldn’t get any higher, Thursday proved you wrong.

In a two-minute video from a recent practice, [autotag]Kon Knueppel[/autotag] knocked down 28 3-pointers on 29 attempts from multiple different spots on the court.

Knueppel, a five-star prospect and a top-20 player in the class, already got first-round hype from multiple draft analysts. The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie thinks he might be the second-best freshman on the 2024-25 squad. It’s easy to see why he might be one of the best debutants in the nation next year if he, at 6-foot-7, can knock down triples with ease.

He’s still just the fourth-highest-rated player in the incoming recruiting class.

If you want some examples of the camaraderie in the Duke locker room, [autotag]Tyrese Proctor[/autotag] and [autotag]Mason Gillis[/autotag] rebounded for their new teammate in the extended video. Proctor stood under the rim and fired the ball back out to Gillis, who passed the ball back to Knueppel.

Duke fans get to see Knueppel, [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag], and the rest of Duke’s overhauled 2024-25 roster in the fall.

Multiple Duke basketball players and recruiting targets participating in various offseason camps

Multiple Duke players, alums and recruiting targets participating in offseason camps.

The Duke Blue Devils basketball team has yet to start the season, but the summer is as pivotal as ever for players to improve their game. Whether it’s skill work, weight lifting, conditioning, or playing in actual games, this is the time to work on your craft.

For Duke, the team has moved to campus, practicing, working out, and bonding since June. With the calendar flip to July, things have changed slightly as this year’s roster members have been invited to various camps and player development sessions nationwide.

We documented in June that Cooper Flagg was selected as the only college player to be a part of the Select Team tasked with practicing with Team USA basketball as they prepare for the Olympics. We are now here to add that Tyrese Proctor and Sion James were invited to participate in the 2024 Chris Paul Elite Camp. In addition, freshmen wings Kon Knueppel and Isaiah Evans were selected to participate in Jayson Tatum’s Elite Camp.

There’s a Duke flavor at both camps. Paolo Banchero, a former Blue Devil, appeared at Paul’s and dominated the competition in some pickup games.

This is also an opportunity for Duke to use it as a mini-recruiting tool. Names like Nate Ament, Jalen Montonati, Nikolas Khamenia, Hudson Greer, Shelton Henderson, Acaden Lewis, and Brayden Burries are all receiving interest from Duke or have offers from Duke. It wouldn’t be farfetched to imagine the high schoolers chatting things up with Proctor, James, Knueppel, and Evans about Duke and what it feels like to be a Duke player.

Plus, it helps when Paolo Banchero and Jayson Tatum are there. It’s too early to tell, but maybe a year from now, we’ll look back and see how many commits for Duke were at these off-season camps.

 

 

247Sports’ Way Too Early 2025 NBA mock draft features five Duke basketball players

Duke places five first rounders in way-too-early mock draft from 247Sports.

With the first round of the 2024 NBA draft having come and gone, 247Sports and many other outlets are already turning their attention to next year. Many NBA franchises are also doing the same thing since the 2025 NBA draft is shaping to be one of the most star-studded drafts in recent memory.

Duke’s Jared McCain went 16th overall to Philadelphia on Wednesday night and ended up being Duke’s only first-round selection for the 2024 draft. Kyle Filipowski fell out of the first round entirely.

Even with one round left in this year’s draft, 247Sports believes Duke will have more than one first-rounder next year if their way-too-early 2025 mock draft is any indication.

There’s a plethora of legit franchise-changing options, and it has the potential to be one of the best crops of draft talent in many years. Where the 2024 draft lacked the high-end superstar type of talent, 2025 makes up for that abundance.

At number one to the Brooklyn Nets, [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] still stands tall. He’s as generational a prospect as Duke has had in the one-and-done era, and the hype will need to be realized this fall when Duke takes the court. His blend of size, athleticism, defensive prowess, and competitiveness has carried him through the prep ranks, but now he’ll have to show he can be the guy on college basketball’s biggest brand in an attempt to lead Duke to its sixth national title.

[autotag]Khaman Maluach[/autotag] is slated to go fifth overall to the Utah Jazz. The 7-footer’s blend of size, length, rim protection, and evolving offensive game, which sees him consistently shooting from a distance, makes him an incredibly enticing center prospect.

[autotag]Caleb Foster[/autotag] received major love in this mock draft. After not being on NBA radars last season as a freshman, there seems to be some major momentum to Foster’s stock, and some in the NBA community are taking notice. Foster has terrific size for a guard prospect, standing at 6-foot-5, and he can play on and off the ball while shooting 40% from 3-point range. His home at Duke this year will be more off the ball as a potent scoring option for Duke while Tyrese Proctor continues to handle the point guard role primarily.

He can shoot and handle the ball and showed how much of a slasher he can be with Duke. Because of the shooting they brought in during the offseason, they will likely spread the court much better, opening up driving lanes galore. This mock has him going to New Orleans with the 14th pick and joining former Blue Devils Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson.

[autotag]Isaiah Evans[/autotag] was picked to land with the Memphis Grizzlies at the 16th pick in this exercise. His length is a problem for defenders at 6-foot-7, and while many compare him to the previously mentioned Ingram, they only share an ability to score and similar collegiate body shapes. Duke has slim players who need to add mass, but Evans is as fiery as they come on the court. He’s a confident player with a dazzling offensive package. He will be asked to be a sparkplug off the bench for Jon Scheyer’s team this year.

The final first-rounder for Duke in this mock draft is [autotag]Kon Kneuppel[/autotag], and he may be the most unknown to Duke fans. While he probably won’t start this year, Knueppel feels like an important player off the bench for the Blue Devils. He is not the most athletic player Duke will play this year, but he’s tough, understands basketball at a high level, and does everything well, especially on the court. He can shoot at a high clip and pass, and at 6-foot-6, he has the size and physicality to bang down low and rebound, too. He was mocked to the current defending champion, Boston Celtics, with the 30th and final pick of the fist round and would play alongside [autotag]Jayson Tatum[/autotag].

Noticeably, Proctor was not named in this mock draft. Proctor’s stock has taken a hit since his freshman year. Still, there’s reason to believe that the Australian can resuscitate his draft stock with a Wendell Moore-like jump as a junior and potentially sneak himself back into consideration.

Duke offers 2025 CG Acaden Lewis

Duke offers 2025 CG Acaden Lewis.

2025 will be a massive year for Jon Scheyer, no matter what happens for him and his program in 2024. The hope is that, by this time next year, the Blue Devils will be figuring out how to repeat as national champions if we work under the assumption that their efforts to surround generational prospect Cooper Flagg with a championship-caliber team were indeed successful.

Even without that assumption, we know a few almost undoubtedly true things. Duke will lose at least four players from this year’s roster. Five, considering this will likely be junior Tyrese Proctor’s last year as a Duke Blue Devil.

With the departure of key players, Duke will again face a significant challenge in rebuilding the team to maintain its competitive edge next year.

Assuming Proctor leaves alongside Sion James, who only has one year of eligibility remaining, Duke will need actual ball handlers on next year’s team. It’s too far out to know who will be available via the transfer portal, so it makes sense why Duke recently offered 2025 combo guard Acaden Lewis.

Lewis is ranked as the 34th-best prospect in 247Sports player rankings for the class of 2025. He’s ranked nationally as the sixth-best combo guard and the number-one player from Washington, D.C.

 

In the film, you see a 6-foot-3 guard who thrives on using ball screens to get downhill, where he can finish with either hand. He is quite proficient in using mid-range jump shots or floaters to score. He uses pace to make defenders uneasy.

He has an effortless release and range. He also showcased the ability to be a proficient spot-up shooter. He has the versatility that Scheyer covets and could be a fit either playing on or off the ball in Durham.

He is being recruited heavily by UNC, Maryland, Georgetown, Kentucky, and Virginia Tech.

Duke basketball releases footage from first 2024-25 team scrimmage

The 2024-25 Duke basketball team finally got to practice this week, and the team dropped footage from the first scrimmage late on Friday.

There are still a few months before the Duke basketball team starts playing in front of the Cameron Crazies on campus, but Blue Devils fans can watch the 2024-25 team play basketball now.

The team posted two social media clips to X (the social media platform formerly known as Twitter) before revealing that they posted a six-minute video to their YouTube page.

Fans got their first look at Cooper Flagg, the No. 1 prospect in the country, and the four other healthy freshmen from the Class of 2024 (the team announced Darren Harris would miss time after he underwent surgery to repair a broken hand).

Khaman Maluach, the 7-footer from South Sudan and a presumed lottery pick in the 2025 NBA draft, threw down a lob from returning guard Tyrese Proctor at one point in the video. Tulane transfer guard Sion James, a presumed starter next season, also popped off the screen multiple times, and in-state talent Isaiah Evans nailed a deep jumper.

Flagg also knocked down a triple later in the video on a feed from Proctor.

Duke basketball posts the first pictures of Cooper Flagg and the 2024-25 team practices

Duke basketball shared the first photos of the 2024-25 team practices on Tuesday, letting fans see Cooper Flagg and others in uniform.

Duke basketball fans can taste the 2024-25 season and its arrival.

On Tuesday, Blue Devils fans got their first looks at next season’s team. [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag], the No. 1 prospect in the country, and his future teammates started practicing in Durham, finally getting to play and practice in Duke gear.

In a tweet from the team account, Duke fans can see Patrick Ngongba II, the Paul VI center who made the USA Basketball U18 team earlier this summer, during a team dribbling drill. Another photo of the team huddling up shows [autotag]Sion James[/autotag], the athletic guard from Tulane, and returning junior [autotag]Tyrese Proctor[/autotag] among the players putting their hands in.

Other photos shared show Flagg and classmate [autotag]Isaiah Evans[/autotag], a two-time North Carolina Mr. Basketball honoree, working through drills. [autotag]Khaman Maluach[/autotag], the South Sudanese 7-footer from NBA Academy Africa, also stopped through in Durham before he heads to the Olympics.

Between Duke’s hyped freshman class, which features six top-40 prospects, and four incoming transfers, the Blue Devils enter the 2024-25 season as one of the national championship favorites.

Flagg and his future teammates already spent some time on campus earlier this month for the K Academy.

247Sports slots Duke in at seventh in 2024-25 men’s basketball power rankings

Most questions around Duke’s star-studded roster revolve around its many freshmen, but 247Sports’ Isaac Trotter cast his spotlight elsewhere.

247Sports’ Isaac Trotter released an updated power rankings for the 2024-25 men’s college basketball season on Tuesday, and he slid a stacked Duke roster down to seventh.

After a stacked recruiting class led by No. 1 prospect Cooper Flagg had the Blue Devils atop many early power rankings right after the national championship, head coach Jon Scheyer’s team has slid down to somewhere between sixth and 10th in most post-draft withdrawal rankings.

Trotter did explain that the Blue Devils have the talent to be one of the best teams in the country, particularly praising the defense.

Most rankings question Duke’s reliance on first-year players, saying that Flagg and projected lottery pick Khaman Maluach offer too many question marks. Trotter, however, had a different question.

“All eyes are on whether Duke’s two returners can flex their muscles as All-League guards,” Trotter wrote. “Sophomore Caleb Foster will be a big breakout candidate, and it’s now or never for junior Tyrese Proctor to put it all together. There are no excuses. This Duke roster is loaded with just about everything it needs to go banner-hunting, but Proctor and Foster have to hold up their end of the bargain.”

Foster, who played 27 games as a freshman before an ankle injury cut his debut season short, averaged 7.7 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 2.1 assists last year while shooting 40.6% from beyond the arc.

Proctor, as a sophomore, averaged 10.5 points and led the team with 3.7 assists per game but shot just 42.3% from the floor.

The Blue Devils were the last of seven teams included in Trotter’s highest tier in the country.

Duke men’s basketball will be one of the tallest teams in the country next season

With no players on the roster shorter than 6-foot-5, the Blue Devils have size on their side in 2024-25.

[autotag]Tyrese Proctor[/autotag] is 6-foot-5.

The returning junior’s height sounds pretty unremarkable by basketball standards. He’s tall for a ball-handler, and a wing who can average nearly four assists per game offers flexibility.

That reaction changes when it’s revealed Duke won’t have a shorter player on the roster next season.

The Blue Devils have 11 players on the roster for the 2023-24 season, and they have an average height of 79.4 inches — a hair above 6-foot-7. The tallest team in the nation last year, Florida State, averaged 79.3 inches.

Proctor and Caleb Foster, the two returning guards, both measure in at 6-foot-5, as does five-star freshman Kon Knueppel. Darren Harris and Isaiah Evans, two other members of the 2024 recruiting class, stand 6-foot-6, as do Purdue transfer Mason Gillis and Tulane transfer Sion James.

Every other player on the team will be at least 6-foot-8.

Cooper Flagg, the No. 1 recruit in the nation and the presumed top pick in the 2025 NBA draft, is 6-foot-9, and he might play as a small forward for the Blue Devils.

Based on Duke Wire’s projected starting lineups, the Blue Devils’ first five will either have an average height of 79.8 inches or 80.2 inches. The smallest realistic starting lineup would be 6-foot-5 Foster, 6-foot-5 Proctor, 6-foot-6 James, 6-foot-9 Flagg, and 7-foot-1 Maluach, which is still an average of 79.6 inches.

No matter how head coach Jon Scheyer wants to arrange the starting lineup, the Blue Devils will be taller than whoever they play in 2024-25.