How Duke basketball’s Tyrese Proctor went from defensive liability to March Madness difference-maker

ORLANDO, Fla. – Duke basketball’s Tyrese Proctor had a wake-up call when he arrived in Durham from Australia.

After the 6-foot-5 guard announced his decision to reclassify in June and join the Blue Devils ahead of the season, Proctor recalls a few of the first open-gym runs at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Defensively, he wasn’t providing much resistance. He was more of a liability than a lockdown defender.

“I’m going to have to make that change, otherwise you can get exposed quite heavily,” Proctor recalled thinking to himself. “Teams will attack that and realize that you can’t guard.”

Fast forward to Friday at the Amway Center, Proctor is a defensive difference-maker for the Blue Devils (27-8), who play Tennessee (24-10) on Saturday (2:40 p.m., CBS) for a spot in the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16. 

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“I wasn’t really a defender back in Australia or anything like that. I think the realization of how crucial it is and how big of an impact on winning I can have because of it, and just taking that on the chest, I feel like it’s a pride thing for me,” Proctor said.

“I don’t like other people scoring on me. I don’t like other teams scoring. I just think it’s a pride thing.”

Proctor, 18, had a different mindset in Australia.

"It was sort of easier to relax, I guess, whereas over here every possession matters," he said. ". … Locking in on every possession is important.”

Though he’s become Duke’s primary point guard with a team-best average of 3.2 assists per game, Proctor is now the guy that guards the guy for the other team. There are three games that immediately come to mind when breaking down Proctor’s development as a defender.

In a 24-point beatdown at NC State, Proctor saw Terquavion Smith score 24 points on the Blue Devils. In a road loss at Virginia Tech, Proctor watched as sharpshooter Hunter Cattoor drained five 3-pointers for 15 points.

Proctor made it known to Duke coach Jon Scheyer that he wanted to guard both players in the rematches.

“I messaged Scheyer and told him that I wanted (Smith and Cattoor) before we played them,” Proctor said. “I just feel like it’s a pride thing, just not letting them score.”

In the second meetings with those teams – both victories for the Blue Devils – Cattoor and Smith combined to score 14 points with Proctor serving as the primary defender.

Proctor showed his defensive chops again in Duke’s first-round rout of Oral Roberts, putting the clamps on Max Abmas, the nation’s seventh-leading scorer at 22.2 points per game. Abmas finished with 12 points.

“Tyrese has grown not just as a defender but just as a player overall this whole year. He’s made as big of a stride to me as any freshman that we’ve had. He’s been incredible,” Scheyer said.

“The thing about his defense is he’s so competitive. He just has a great focus on whatever the job is that he should be doing at that time. He’s got great balance when he’s guarding the ball.

“He has really good size, so he’s able to use that to his advantage, and doing it without fouling – that’s the key thing. … But I really credit his competitiveness most importantly. Without that, you can only be so good of a defender.”

It’s a shift that has some of Proctor’s former coaches wondering what changed once Proctor made the move to Durham.

“I’ve got coaches back home asking me what happened, as well,” Proctor said with a smile.

“I definitely guarded back home, but I wasn’t as good of a defender as I have been. … I think it’s just a switch mentality.”

Staff writer Rodd Baxley can be reached at rbaxley@fayobserver.com or @RoddBaxley on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Tyrese Proctor a Duke basketball difference-maker for March Madness