MIAMI (AP) — Cameron and Cayden Boozer have one goal this week. They want to win the biggest trophy that has eluded them throughout their careers at Miami powerhouse Christopher Columbus High.
“Got to win nationals,” Cameron said.
This time next year, one might think he'll be saying exactly the same thing at the college level.
The Duke-bound twin sons of longtime NBA forward Carlos Boozer have a national championship in mind this week — the high school version — while the school at which they'll be enrolling in a couple months is favored to win the NCAA title at the Final Four that starts Saturday.
The Boozer twins are essentially a reminder that whether presumed No. 1 draft pick Cooper Flagg leaves Duke for the NBA as many expect or not, the Blue Devils will be loaded again next season with the consensus top high school recruiting class in the country and likely right back in the national-title picture.
Duke is winning this year while playing a ton of freshmen. It'll likely have to follow the same formula next year.
“Age is just a number,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said. “And obviously it’s different to have three freshmen starting. (In the regional final) we played five freshmen on a team that’s going to a Final Four. I think for our program, we’ve always thought about doing things differently.”
That recruiting class is led by Cameron Boozer, the now two-time Gatorade national player of the year. He won it two years ago as a sophomore. The winner last year — that would be Flagg, a top contender for college player of the year this year. And now that Flagg is in college, the best-high-school-player trophy is Boozer's once again.
“His game is already elite,” said Miami Heat forward Kevin Love, himself a former Gatorade player of the year who surprised Cameron Boozer with the trophy in a ceremony at Columbus High last week.
Cameron Boozer, a 6-foot-10 power forward, is averaging 22.6 points, 12 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.9 steals and 1.4 blocks through 30 games this season — during which he and his brother, a 6-foot-4 point guard, led Columbus to a 27-3 record and fourth consecutive Florida state title.
“He’s one of the best leaders I’ve ever met," Cayden Boozer said of his twin brother. "I’m a little bit more shy when you when you first meet me, but I open my shell once I get to know people. And he’s one of the funniest guys I know. Very goofy.”
The Boozer twins were recruited by basically everybody at the Division I level, but Duke — where Carlos Boozer played for three seasons under coach Mike Krzyzewski — wasn't a lock to get them. Miami pushed hard for the twins, and some experts actually expected them to sign with the Hurricanes before the Blue Devils wound up winning the commitment in October.
It should be noted that the twins weren't a recruiting package deal. Things just worked out that way.
“We never really discussed even if we wanted to (go to school together) until basically the end," Cayden Boozer said. "We were just going through it by ourselves, seeing what school was the best fit for both of us as individuals. Then when it came down to the wire, we were like, ‘Do we want to do this together? Yeah, I think we should.’ So, obviously, we're able to go to the same school together, which is an amazing feeling.”
The national high school tournament, now called the Chipotle Nationals, brings together 10 boys teams and four girls teams. It starts Wednesday and runs through the two championship games on Saturday in Fishers, Indiana, near Indianapolis.
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