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Tyrese Proctor finally is having his moment and he might carry Duke to March Madness glory
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- Tyrese Proctor finally is having his moment and he might carry Duke to March Madness glory
RALEIGH, N.C. – Jon Scheyer needed a moment to compose himself.
The topic was Tyrese Proctor, his junior point guard who had just scorched Baylor for seven 3-pointers and 25 points in an 89-66 victory that sends No. 1 seed Duke to the Sweet 16. But the reason Scheyer was choking back tears, apologizing to reporters because he simply couldn't speak, was rooted in a reality most of us can't understand.
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Before Proctor was this guy – a legit 6-foot-6 NBA prospect blossoming into everything people always thought he would be right as Duke makes a push toward the Final Four – he was the guy who was subjected to more than his share of blame for what hadn't gone right in his first two college seasons.
So when I asked Scheyer about that dynamic Sunday night, especially at a place like Duke where they recruit the best of the best and those prospects usually either show it right away and head to the NBA or depart for another school where they believe they can, he started to answer before stopping cold.
"I think what I'm most proud of, or as proud of as anything with the journey Tyrese and I have been on -- because it's harder to go through those journeys now, you know, and um…" he said before trailing off and looking at the box score in his hand.
Scheyer put his left fist over his mouth as the tears began welling up in his eyes, his head shaking from one side to the other, needing several seconds to compose himself. A Duke staffer even told him to take his time.
Duke guard Tyrese Proctor (5) and coach Jon Scheyer talk during a break in their second-round game in the NCAA men's tournament at Lenovo Center.
Then he smiled.
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"You know, Tyrese…," he said, before needing a few more seconds.
Though we may not know all the specifics, everyone in the room had a pretty good idea of what was running through his mind.
Sports has always been a cold business. Being a college athlete, particularly in the social media era, can be especially cruel when a player isn't living up to the expectations burst of excitement that comes along with their commitment to a school.
And last year, when Proctor finished his sophomore season with a scoreless 0-for-9 shooting performance in an Elite Eight loss to North Carolina State, logic of the modern era would have suggested that his time at Duke would have come to an end one way or another.
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Even though he was just 19 at the time because he came to Duke a year early from Australia, that's often how the churn of basketball works. The moment you enter college as blue chip prospect, you're on the clock and world decides quickly: Maybe you're not the player everyone thought you were. When there's so much on the line in terms of NBA draft position and future contracts, patience rarely wins and blame gets sprayed like it's coming out of a fire hose.
"He could have made a decision to even go pro after his freshmen year, and I think he and his family, his mom and dad, had such maturity to understand it's more important to be ready than just to be drafted," Scheyer said. "So he doubles down, comes back huge with expectations and me and Tyrese both would say his sophomore year didn't go the way he wanted and I think that's where it's easy to split."
Scheyer said he wasn't going to convince or lobby Proctor for one more year. He laid out in a matter-of-fact manner what was needed and what could lay ahead. And then Proctor did the thing very few players in his position would do coming off a largely disappointing season: He came back for a third year.
"I think from a young age I've never been the person to jump off a ship in a sense," Proctor said. "Just trusting myself, trusting coach Scheyer and the program here. But everyone is on a different journey and whether it's one, two, three or four years making sure I'm level-headed and trying to get better every day."
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That's impressive stuff because I'm not sure how many kids – or how many of us – would have done the same thing in his situation.
But look at Proctor now.
Yes, the shooting recently has been notable. He's 19 of 30 from the 3-point line over the last three games. That's a legit heater, and if he can keep this going for a couple more weeks Duke is going to be almost impossible to beat.
It's more than that, though. Proctor's having by far his best season, averaging 12.2 points on career-high shooting splits from the floor (43.8%) and the 3-point line (39.7%). While the offense runs mostly through freshman Cooper Flagg, Proctor is hitting his stride as a play finisher and showing why he's the kind of prototype big guard that scouts once loved.
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"I think when Tyrese plays with the type of confidence he's played with the whole second half the season, it's really good for our team," Flagg said. "He's such a talented player when he's confident."
And the fact it's finally coming together says a lot of good things both about Proctor and the kind of program Scheyer has put together in his third season as Mike Krzyzewski's successor.
Yes, the way Duke recruits, there are going to be a lot of guys who pass through for one year, show their stuff and go on quickly to the NBA. But there's also another, more patient path that can pay off for the player and the program.
"The difference is for a guy in that position to take it as opposed to making excuses or running away from it, that's the special part," Scheyer said. "So for this to happen for Tyrese to hit seven threes and be our key guy and all that after going through all these moments, like if I'm an NBA team I'm going after him because you have to handle adversity. And I think that speaks a lot to his character and our relationship. I think in this era, you guys understand the challenges with NIL and transfer portal and all that, to have the relationships you can build with a guy for three years and go through a lot, I'm really proud of him."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Duke riding Tyrese Proctor maybe all way to March Madness title
