“They’re Sleeping on Duke? Gatorade Player of the Year Cameron Boozer Says the Blue Devils Are Being Overlooked — But Not for Long”
Is Duke basketball overlooked heading into the 2025-26 season? Its highest-touted recruit and the 2025 Gatorade Male Player of the Year Cameron Boozer thinks the Blue Devils might be, according to a July 16 interview with ESPN.
“I think we have a special group,” Boozer told ESPN. “I think we’re very overlooked right now, but once the season starts, that’ll change for sure. … I think just playing together, playing hard, defending, competing, we’re going to be in a spot to get (to the Final Four) just like they did last year.”
The Blue Devils will be tasked with a roster overhaul in 2025-26, with the entirety of its starting five from its 2024-25 roster being drafted in the 2025 NBA Draft, including three lottery picks: Cooper Flagg (No. 1), Kon Knueppel (No. 4) and Khaman Maluach (No. 10).
The Blue Devils saw their 2024-25 season come to an end at the hands of Houston in the Final Four, where a 25-8 closing run by the Cougars dashed the Blue Devils’ hopes of ending their decade-long national championship drought. Now, Boozer said, the challenge of getting back falls to him and his teammates.
“Once the (Houston) game ended, we knew that it was going to be on us now to get the team back there, so it made me excited, at the same time feeling sad, but also just super excited for the season and what’s to come,” he told ESPN.
Boozer, a five-star prospect and son of former Duke and NBA star Carlos Boozer, headlines a top overall recruiting class for the Blue Devils, ranking as the No. 3 player nationally per the 247Sports Composite rankings. He is joined by his twin brother, Cayden, a four-star prospect, along with five-stars Nikolas Khamenia (Studio City, Ca.), Dame Sarr (Italy) and four-star Sebastian Wilkins (Wolfeboro, N.H.). Duke will also be returning key pieces in Caleb Foster and Isaiah Evans.
Boozer was named the 2025 Gatorade Male Player of the Year on Wednesday night, becoming the second consecutive Duke basketball player to win the honor, following Cooper Flagg.
Despite feeling the Blue Devils are overlooked, Boozer and the rest of the Duke squad will enter the 2025-26 season with a chip on their shoulder.
“We have a huge chip because we know that we have the talent and the team to be the best team in the country, and I generally feel like we will be the best team in the country,” Boozer said. “So that puts a huge chip on us that people are overlooking us saying that we’re not the team we were last year and everything like that. I feel like everyone will see that once the season comes, but we’re not too worried about stuff like that.”
