Duke basketball players Tyrese Proctor and Cooper Flagg Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

Duke Basketball Now Has Four Projected First-Round Draft Picks

Originally posted on Duke Blue Devils on SI
By Matt Giles | Last updated Dec 27, 2024 7:54 PM ET

Across the first month or so of this season, three Duke basketball talents, all of the freshman variety, appeared in the first round of CBS Sports college hoops insider Kyle Boone's 2025 mock drafts.

Now, add third-year Blue Devil starter Tyrese Proctor to that list. The 20-year-old junior rose from the second round to No. 30 overall as of Boone's latest update.

"Armed with an improved jumper and better consistency as a finisher, Proctor has played his way back into the first round mix after failing to live up to lofty expectations the last two seasons," Boone wrote about the 6-foot-6, 183-pound guard from Sydney, Australia, currently averaging a career-high 11.3 points and 3.6 rebounds per outing while shooting a career-best 41.7 percent beyond the arc.

Top 5 from the ATL! pic.twitter.com/vcw5YuphXt
— Duke Men’s Basketball (@DukeMBB) December 22, 2024

The three Duke basketball rookies sitting in the first round of Boone's mock draft — not to mention seemingly every other one out there — are guard/forward Cooper Flagg at No. 1, guard/forward Kon Knueppel at No. 10, and center Khaman Maluach at No. 24.

Proctor, Flagg, Knueppel, Maluach, and the rest of Jon Scheyer's No. 4-ranked Blue Devils (10-2, 2-0 ACC) have won six straight games are now preparing to host the Virginia Tech Hokies (5-7, 0-1 ACC) in Cameron Indoor Stadium at 4:30 p.m. ET Tuesday (ACC Network).

This article first appeared on Duke Blue Devils on SI and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: