When the Duke basketball program wins National Championships one thing is usually a constant – a veteran point guard.
There have been questions surrounding Tyrese Proctor and his ability to lead a team throughout his college career, but the junior is playing the best basketball of his life in the last five games and the Blue Devils have turned into a different team.
Coming off of a stretch in which Proctor averaged just 6.6 points on 11-of-40 shooting (27.5-percent) in a five-game stretch in mid-January, the Duke captain has posted 19.4 points on 35-of-65 (53.8-percent) from the field in his most recent five games.
It includes a 23-point outburst in Duke’s 106-70 victory over Stanford on Saturday afternoon in which he made 5-of-8 attempts from 3-point range and he’s starting to look more like Nolan Smith and Quinn Cook, who were the last two veteran guard on Duke title teams.
“His preparation has been high level,” Jon Scheyer said after the Blue Devils picked up its second straight victory.
“I think, for him, he’s really done two things incredibly well. That’s why he’s going to be in the NBA for a long time and make a career. It’s his shooting and his competitiveness and his defense.”
Proctor’s turnaround started with Duke’s blowout victory against North Carolina, and he’s never looked back, even scoring 23 points on 9-of-15 shooting in a loss against Clemson last week.
“Obviously, he can play make and he enforces no turnovers, and he can put the ball on the floor. He can do a lot more than just those two things, but I think the strength of his game is built on those two things, and he’s embraced it.”
Tyrese Proctor has only committed a total of five turnovers in his hot stretch while dishing out 12 assists.
“I think it’s his mindset, just being ready and preparing the right way. Really proud of him. It’s important for our team, just how aggressive he is. We need him in that mindset.”
The No. 3 Blue Devils (22-3, 14-1 ACC) will have a quick turnaround from its victory and play on the road against Virginia (13-12, 6-8 ACC) on Monday night (8:00 p.m. ET, ESPN).
