COLLEGE BASKETBALL: JAN 07 Duke at Boston College
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Duke freshman point guard Tyrese Proctor announced Monday that he will put his pursuit of playing professional basketball on hold to run it back in Durham next season, making the Blue Devils' prospects for next season a whole lot brighter. A potential one-and-done candidate who projected as a top-30 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, Proctor was the No. 27 player in the CBS Sports prospect rankings for the 2023 class and one of the more promising point guards in a shallow pool of prospects for the cycle.

"This is the best decision for my career, both present and future," Proctor told ESPN. "Coach [Jon] Scheyer and I share the same vision; we have unfinished business. We have the best staff in the country, and they will push me each and every day."

Proctor was originally a 2023 prospect before reclassifying to the 2022 class last summer, joining a loaded Duke class that already had four other five-star recruits. At just 18 years old with five-star credentials, he was one of the youngest players at the NCAA Division I level this past season, averaging 9.4 points and 3.3 assists per game while appearing in all 36 of Duke's games.

Duke currently has the No. 2 incoming recruiting class in the 2023 cycle with all five commits ranked as top-20, five-star prospects. With Proctor in the fold as the clear lead guard for next season, that should allow for incoming combo guards Jared McCain and Caleb Foster to play more natural roles as secondary creators and scorers.

While sharing point guard responsibilities last season with junior Jeremy Roach, Proctor, with a big 6-foot-5 frame, flashed the playmaking potential as one of the best creators on the team. His 20.8% assist rate led all Duke players despite finishing fourth on the team in usage rate among qualifying players, according to CBB Reference data

With Duke likely set to lose several contributors from the 2022-23 team, Proctor figures to be benefit substantially as one of the team's alphas next season, potentially putting him on a path to solidify himself as a lottery pick in the 2024 draft class.