The competition for this year’s Gatorade National Player of the Year award was heated.
In the end, it went to five-star Duke commit, Cameron Boozer, the son of NBA star Carlos Boozer.It’s the second time Cameron has won the award, along with his sophomore season in 2023. He joins LeBron James, Greg Oden and Brandon Knight as two-time winners of the award.
“It’s a blessing, first of all, to win,” Cameron told USA Today.
Notably, Cameron held off BYU-signee A.J. Dybantsa for the award.
Dybantsa, who is receiving a reported $7 million in NIL money to attend BYU next year, is ranked by most as the No. 1 high school recruit in this year’s class.Cameron isn’t far behind, though, and he has led Columbus (Miami) High School to four consecutive state championships in Florida.
Cameron is a projected top-five pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, like Dybantsa.
Cameron and his fraternal twin, Cayden, will both play at Duke next season, like their father once did. Current Duke freshman Cooper Flagg was Gatorade National Player of the Year last spring.Miami Heat legend Kevin Love delivered the news of the award to Cameron on Tuesday morning.
“I just love that Cam leans into the process. I love that he leans into being a great teammate and a great leader. And I think that’s a large portion of what the Gatorade national boys’ basketball player of the year is about,” Love told USA Today. “It’s not just what you do on the court, it’s what you do in the community, it’s what you do for your teammates, it’s what you do in the classroom.”
Cameron Boozer is expected to be a strong recipient of NIL money, too, with On3 reporting that it could be about $1.6 million.
