The Duke Chronicle does an annual look at Duke’s basketball roster but this year has been pretty confusing. They started one version this summer, didn’t finish it, then started again recently, with new versions of the bios.
It’s very strange. The last two that we were waiting to see were of Caleb Foster and Tyrese Proctor. There’s not much point in talking about the dupes so we’ll pick up with Proctor.
Proctor came to the US with a big reputation but he got to Duke fairly late in the summer of his freshman year due to his role with the Australian national basketball program. It took him a few weeks to catch up but he did and quickly became a key member of the team.
Last year, Jon Scheyer moved him to point guard and he did well there, particularly on defense. it also allowed Duke to make his offensive issues and Jeremy Roach became the primary offensive weapon in the backcourt.
His offensive issues were basically an inconsistent shot. In the exhibition game against Lincoln, Proctor hit 5-7. It’s too early to call that a trend, but encouraging?
It’s definitely encouraging.
It’s good news, but the better news is that Scheyer has assembled tremendous fire power. Cooper Flagg, Kon Knueppel, Caleb Foster, Darren Harris, Sion James and Mason Gillis can all hit threes. It’s great if Proctor can too, but if he struggles again, Duke appears to have that covered.
Also, we missed the Foster preview. Here’s his as well. We had forgotten that he ran the show at times when Proctor and Roach were out with injuries. He played very well as a freshman. He was somewhat hesitant offensively at times, but he wasn’t a liability. Duke missed a lot when he went out with a foot injury down the stretch.
One of the most exciting things about this season is going to be seeing how much he has grown and what he can do in the post-season.
