In game where father once shined, Cameron Boozer stars in McDonald's All-American Game

Miami Herald

02-04-2025

Just as so many basketball stars have in recent decades, Carlos Boozer delivered a stellar performance at the McDonald's All-American Game before his stellar career in college at Duke and the NBA.
Over two decades later, Boozer sat courtside and watched his sons, Cameron and Cayden, take part in what will likely be a springboard for their own burgeoning careers.
Both played for the East squad in Tuesday night's 2025 version of the McDonald's All-American Game at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
Although the East fell short in a 105-92 loss, Cameron, in particular, shined as he earned co-MVP honors. Cameron finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds in the game and helped his team stay close until the final minutes of the game.
The West squad, however, pulled away with help from co-MVP Darryn Peterson, a Kansas signee, who scored 18 points and helped that side win the annual event for the first time since 2018.
Boozer, who along with his brother are headed to Duke University next season like their father once did, was one of three players from South Florida in the event along with Calvary Christian's Shon Abaev, a University of Cincinnati signee who came off the East bench and played several minutes.
In the 1999 McDonald's game, Carlos Boozer finished with 22 points and 11 rebounds. On Tuesday night, he sat courtside with his wife, CeCe and his oldest son, Carmani, as Cameron got the start and later Cayden entered off the bench to play significant minutes in the star-studded game.
The Boozers got the chance to face future Duke teammate, Nikolas Khamenia, who played for the West. A.J. Dybantsa, the nation's top-ranked prospect and BYU commit, and whom the Boozers faced multiple times during their high school career, scored 13 points.
NATIONALS NEXT
The Boozers will next join their Columbus teammates, who were in attendance in Brooklyn, and begin their attempt at winning a national championship at the Chipotle Nationals tournament, which begins Wednesday and continues through Saturday in Fishers, Indiana.
The Explorers are the top seed among the 10 teams in the bracket and play their first game Thursday at 8 p.m. on ESPNU. Columbus will face the winner of the matchup between No. 8 seed Bradenton IMG Academy and No. 9 seed Wasatch Academy of Utah.
If they advance to the semifinals, Columbus would play either No. 4 seed Brewster Academy (New Hampshire) or No. 5 seed CIA Bella Vista (CA) on Friday at 4:30 p.m. on ESPN2. The championship game is scheduled for Saturday at noon and will be televised on ESPN.
Columbus, ranked No. 1 nationally by MaxPreps, is vying to become the first Miami-Dade County boys' basketball team to finish a season ranked No. 1 in the nation.