The Duke Blue Devils came through as heavy favorites over the Baylor Bears in their Round of 32 matchup in the 2025 NCAA Tournament. But what was perhaps a bit of a surprise was the fact that while freshman sensation Cooper Flagg also had a great game, it was Tyrese Proctor who stole the show for the Blue Devils, which was significant for Duke head coach Jon Scheyer.
Proctor, who came to Duke as a top-50 recruit in the 2022 high school class, hasn’t quite turned into a star-caliber player like some were expecting. But what he has been is a valuable role player for Duke this season, averaging 12.2 points this season on one of the best teams in the country.
In Sunday’s matchup against Baylor, Proctor rose to the occasion, making nine of his ten shot attempts, seven of which came on three-point attempts, for a game-high 25 points en route to a dominant 89-66 victory for the Blue Devils.
After the game, Jon Scheyer was asked about how Proctor has gone from someone who may not have lived up to expectations right away to being one of the most important players on their roster.
Right away, Scheyer showed his emotion in response to the question, saying that it has been a “hard journey” for Proctor to get to this point. Especially in the day and age we are currently in, where the transfer portal is so commonly used by players who struggle early on in their careers.
“I think what I am most proud of, or as proud as anything, with the journey Tyrese and I have been on. It’s harder to go through those journeys now,” said Scheyer as he fought back tears. “You know, I took over in April, and Tyrese and I had a call on May 31st to come in a year early. I think we knew there would be some rough patches, you know, with reclassifying. There were his first year. But he had some moments, he came on strong down the stretch.
“He could have made a decision to even go pro after his freshman year a year early. I think he and his family, his mom and dad, they had such maturity to understand that it is more important to be ready than to just be drafted. And so he doubles down, comes back, huge expectations. And me and Tyrese both were saying his sophomore year didn’t go the way we wanted. That’s where it is easy to split. And I was not in a convincing mode, I think, after that season. I was matter-of-fact, where I saw it for him with opportunities. We had honest conversations like we always do.
“I think 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. So for Tyrese to hit seven threes and be out key guys and having all these moments… If I’m an NBA team, I am going after him because you have to handle adversity. I think that speaks to our character and our relationship. I think in this era, you guys cover this, you understand the challenges with NIL and the transfer portal and all that. Still to have the relationships you can build with a guy for three years and go through a lot. Obviously, I’m really proud of him.”
While we have seen plenty of success stories come out of the transfer portal, we have seen just as many, if not more, players flame out seeking a better opportunity. And it can be argued, as Scheyer alluded to, that the transfer portal takes away some of the accountability from players for their own on-court struggles.
Clearly, all of Proctor’s hard work has paid off in a major way. So it should be fun to see how he continues to build on his breakout game when it matters most for his team.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.