Duke Basketball Sophomore Named Nation's No. 2 Breakout Star
Australian sensation Tyrese Proctor, one of four returning starters in Durham, began his "breakout" as a Duke basketball freshman roughly midway through the 2022-23 campaign when he started serving as the team's primary floor general.
But seeing that the 19-year-old is now a co-captain for Jon Scheyer's second batch of Blue Devils and their projected starting point guard, full-fledged stardom is at Proctor's fingertips. At least that's what The Almanac implied by predicting him to be among the nation's top five "Breakout Stars" this season.
National basketball analyst Jeff Goodman revealed that they have Tyrese Proctor at No. 2 below the sophomore center for reigning national champion UConn in Donovan Clingan. Florida sophomore guard Riley Kugel, UCLA sophomore forward Adem Bona, and Texas sophomore forward Dillon Mitchell round out the top five.
Proctor, one of four Duke basketball players who saw action in all 36 games last season, averaged 9.4 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per outing for the 2022-23 Blue Devils, earning a spot on the ACC All-Freshman Team.
Expect those numbers to rise as the on-court leader for what he believes will be an uptempo group.
"I think we're going to play a lot faster than last year," Proctor said at Duke basketball media day in late September. "We're going to be able to space the floor a lot more. Having all five guys on the court that can shoot and be a threat offensively, I think that's going to be big as well."
Again, the 6-foot-5 smooth playmaker had his fair share of struggles early in the 2022-23 campaign, but he drew a start in all but two contests and emerged as one of the squad's top weapons. He'll look to build on that when the Blue Devils open their regular season at home against Dartmouth on Nov. 6.
Stay tuned to Blue Devil Country on SI.com for more Duke basketball news.
