After falling to No. 12 Arizona 78-73 on Friday night in Durham, the Duke basketball team’s prospects of obtaining the twin sons of 2001 Blue Devil national champion and two-time NBA All-Star Carlos Boozer are probably not that bad.
However, if the No. 2 Blue Devils had outscored the Wildcats in the closing moments, that recollection from Cameron Indoor Stadium would have created a more positive impression for the rest of this weekend’s official visits from Cayden and Cameron Boozer, two five-star seniors from Columbus High School (Fla.). It may have given them a wonderful, lifelong experience.
Adding to the letdown of what otherwise seemed to be a fun time for the Boozers as they sat a few feet from big-time November college hoops (note: their self-contained expressions are the norm and reminiscent of Carlos Boozer at their age) was the fact the Blue Devils didn’t consistently display vintage Duke basketball prowess and togetherness.
“We didn’t play together,” second-year head coach Jon Scheyer explained afterward, “and that’s hard for me to swallow. That’s not OK for us. We didn’t play Duke basketball, and I take full responsibility for that.”
That was also the case in early February when Cameron (named after Cameron Indoor Stadium) and Cayden attended what remains Duke’s second-most lopsided defeat of the Scheyer era, a relatively uninspired outing en route to an 81-59 loss at ACC foe Miami.
Both Boozer brothers have held Blue Devil offers since May 2022. Scheyer and his crew were among the first official suitors for Cayden Boozer, a 6-foot-3, 190-pound guard ranked No. 17 overall on the 247Sports 2025 Composite, and Cameron Boozer, a 6-foot-9, 235-pound forward ranked No. 2 in the class.
Their trip to Duke marks their fourth official visit this fall. They recently checked out Kentucky, Miami, and Florida.
And it’s worth noting that last week, Carlos Boozer, now a broadcaster for the ACC Network, hinted at UNC basketball’s season opener that the Blue Devils’ archrival will get a chance to host his sons in the spring:
Will that implied visit coincide with the Duke-UNC showdown in Chapel Hill, giving the Blue Devils a shot to make the third time the charm in emerging victorious in a game with the Boozers on hand as recruits? Perhaps so, although that Feb. 3 meeting is technically in the winter, outside the spring timeframe Carlos Boozer mentioned.
Neither has named finalists or specified a timeline for choosing a college, and no 247Sports Crystal Ball predictions exist for either.
They are among nine 2025 talents on Scheyer’s wishlist.
