Projected Duke Basketball Starting Five Without Tyrese Proctor
Proctor sustained his injury late in the first half of Tuesday night’s 97-60 road win over the Miami Hurricanes. He and junior reserve sparkplug forward Maliq Brown (dislocated shoulder) are out of commission for the time being.
So, freshman guard Isaiah Evans, who recorded all 16 of his points against the Hurricanes before the break, earned the second half starting nod from third-year Duke head coach Jon Scheyer.
And given Evans’ shooting prowess of late, not to mention his continued development on the defensive end, it would be somewhat surprising if the 6-foot-6, 175-pound Fayetteville, N.C., native, a 2024 McDonald’s All American, isn’t in the starting lineup until Proctor returns.
“Isaiah has established himself with what he’s done,” Scheyer said following the blowout at Miami. “It’s easy to talk about the shooting. His defense has been off the charts. He’s guarding the ball as well as anybody. He knows exactly where to be…
“With what he’s done, it was a no-brainer [to start him in the second half]. He’s established himself in that role.”
Between his past three outings, Evans has recorded 50 points in 66 minutes of action while shooting 13-for-19 beyond the arc.
The healthy full-time Duke basketball starters are graduate guard Sion James, freshman guard/forward Kon Knueppel, freshman guard/forward Cooper Flagg, and freshman center Khaman Maluach.
Those four and whoever joins them in the starting five — again, the prediction here is a four-rookie group via the addition of Isaiah Evans — will be on Coach K Court to tip off the Blue Devils’ home matchup against the Florida State Seminoles (16-12, 7-10 ACC) at 7 p.m. ET Saturday (ACC Network).
