23-04-2025
Duke basketball signee Cameron Boozer joins LeBron James on esteemed list
Duke basketball signee Cameron Boozer joins LeBron James on esteemed list
Duke Blue Devils basketball fans spent the last two years rooting for one of the most accomplished and anticipated prospects of the century thus far. Cooper Flagg looked like a lock for the first overall pick in the 2025 NBA draft even as a high-school senior, leading Montverde Academy to an undefeated season and a Chipotle Nationals title before winning the John R. Wooden Award as the nation's best college basketball player as a freshman.
His replacement will bring an even more decorated resume to Durham.
Cameron Boozer, a 6-foot-9 power forward from Florida, headlines the 2025 Duke basketball recruiting class, and he already can't fit all of his awards in a single trophy case. He helped Columbus High School match Flagg's Chipotle Nationals title, he was named co-MVP of the McDonald's All-American Game, and he was named the Gatorade National Player of the Year as a sophomore and as a senior.
The accolade he earned this week might surpass all of those, however, since it places him in the same breath as NBA royalty.
Boozer was named Mr. Basketball USA by on Monday, defeating Kansas commit Darryn Peterson and BYU commit AJ Dybantsa with eight first-place votes among 10 ballots to claim the award for the second time in three years. The last person to be named Mr. Basketball USA twice? Four-time NBA champion LeBron James, who won it in 2002 and 2003 before getting drafted with the first overall pick in the 2004 NBA draft straight out of high school.
Boozer became the first sophomore to win the award in 2023, and he finished runner-up to Flagg in 2024, which eventually prevented the three-peat.
"Yeah, it's crazy," Boozer said in a release announcing his award. "To be categorized with such a small group of guys who have won the award twice is an amazing feeling and hopefully I can do more winning at the next level and the one after that."
MaxPreps credited Boozer with 22.1 points, 11.8 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.9 steals, and 1.5 blocks as a senior. He's third in the 247Sports' Class of 2025 rankings behind Peterson and Dybantsa.
