Duke basketball: Australian sensation on his way to Durham

Have no fear, for Tyrese Proctor is almost here.

Author:
Matt Giles
Aug 16, 2022 6:30 AM EDT

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Tyrese Proctor is the only scholarship player on the 2022-23 Duke basketball roster who was not in town for summer school or the team's workouts and intrasquad scrimmages.

However, according to a tweet from the program's official account on Monday night, the heralded Australian talent will arrive in Durham on Thursday.

In early June, the 6-foot-5, 180-pound point guard announced his reclassification from 2023 before finishing No. 27 overall on the 247Sports 2022 Composite.

Sure, given Proctor's late move to 2022 and his distance from Durham, his absence was not entirely unexpected. Plus, it's not as if he was sitting at home Down Under all summer munching on Vegemite sandwiches; no, he spent much of June and July as the only non-professional on the Australian senior national basketball team.

Still, confirmation of his arrival date — not to mention the scheduled return of all his Blue Devil teammates later this week — allows everyone to breathe a sigh of relief. With Duke's fall classes not beginning until the end of August, Proctor will have about a week and a half to settle in and get acquainted with his new surroundings.

Consider that Proctor, a long-limbed hoops savant who can dazzle as a facilitator or bucket-getter, is likely to vie for the starting job at the two-spot.

And he's arguably the best option to regularly fill in as floor general for junior Jeremy Roach, the presumed starter at the one-spot and one of only two returning scholarship players for first-year head coach Jon Scheyer.

Scheyer's first batch of Blue Devils tips off its 2022-23 season on Nov. 7 at home against Jacksonville.

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