Duke Basketball: Impact of Proctor, Filipowski, and Mitchell back for 2023-24 season

Tyrese Proctor

I have a weird theory that Duke losing to Tennessee potentially could have worked in the Blue Devils’ favor. My reasoning? Tyrese Proctor was elevating his game and draft stock to such a level that with one more weekend he would have no other choice but to turn pro.

Sure, this may sound a bit far-fetched. But man, if the Aussie didn’t save one of his best performances for last. In Duke’s losing effort to Tennessee Proctor finished with 16 points and 6 assists. Not the most breathtaking statline, but everything about the guard’s play in this matchup was aesthetically pleasing. Against Tennessee’s gauntlet of a defense the freshman demonstrated some sweet shot creation and facilitation.

Size, shot creation, distribution, defensive tenacity. Proctor possesses the guard prototype that NBA teams drool over these days. Because of all these factors, Proctor could improve his draft stock as much as any player in college basketball next season. He likely would have been a first-round pick this year, but with a strong sophomore season, he could easily catapult himself into the lottery if not higher.

Proctor would likely be the first to tell you he needs to get more consistent. There isn’t much on a basketball court that he isn’t capable of doing, but there were also some games he didn’t make enough of an impact as a scorer. Throughout his freshman campaign Proctor made 38.1 percent of his field goal attempts and 32 percent of his shots from downtown.

While neither number is embarrassing, if Proctor wants to become one of college basketball’s elite players next year he needs to improve his reliability as a scorer. This aspect of Proctor’s game is a safe bet to come around, and there’s definitely an outcome where he takes a significant leap in this regard and becomes a contender to be an All-American next year.

The current expectation is that Proctor will be the primary facilitator for the 2023-24 Duke Blue Devils. This is an obvious decision, but also one that could have a murky fallout as that role belonged to Jeremy Roach this past season. While Roach was arguably Duke’s best and most reliable player a season ago, the emergence of Proctor means his role would certainly decline to an extent if he were to return.

Last week Roach announced he was declaring for the NBA while maintaining his collegiate eligibility, so while a Roach return to Duke feels unlikely it’s also not totally off the table. While he may not be the catalyst he was a year ago, Scheyer could certainly find a valuable role for him in the rotation.

Either way, it feels like the Duke offense will run through Proctor next year and the team’s national title hopes could very easily hinge on him making the jump we’re all expecting him to.