Duke forward Cameron Boozer kept the No. 3 Blue Devils unbeaten after they defeated the previously flawless No. 9 Michigan State Spartans 66-60 on Saturday. Boozer tallied a double-double of 18.0 points, 15.0 rebounds, and five assists in the win.
The popular Boozer’s impressive start to the season has sparked widespread discourse among fans, analysts, and even coaches about whether he is the best prospect in the class of 2025.
Todd Golden Assesses Cameron Boozer’s Strengths
Last week, Boozer was instrumental in Duke’s narrow 67-66 win over the No. 18 Florida Gators at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Boozer registered 29.0 points, six rebounds, and two assists in the marquee college basketball clash.
During Tuesday’s segment of “Inside College Basketball” with CBS Sports analyst Jon Rothstein, Florida coach Todd Golden broke down what made Boozer such an effective player for the Blue Devils.
“We’ve known Cam for a long time. He first came up with his brother Cayden, in his sophomore year, to check out Florida,” Golden said. “We had him on a couple of visits, went down to Miami to recruit him and his brother. We knew what Cam was capable of and we felt pretty confident that he would have this level of success at the college level.
“Thought he had a great first half against us the other night that set the tone. Our frontcourt answered the bell in the second half. We held him to missing seven field goals in a row. The biggest compliment that I can give Cam is, he always makes the winning play and it’s not about him scoring the most points.”
Boozer has averaged 23.0 points on 55.9% shooting from the floor and 37.2% shooting from beyond the arc, 9.9 rebounds, and 3.8 assists for the Blue Devils during his nascent college basketball career.
Rival Coach Lavishes Praise on Boozer
After Boozer’s inspirational performance in East Lansing against the Spartans on Saturday, Michigan State coach Tom Izzo lavished praise on Boozer’s maturity during his postgame news conference.
“Boozer is a man. He missed shots, that’s what we said, sometimes his best shot is the missed shot, because he goes from missing a short one to getting a rebound and laying it in. And he did that very well,” Izzo said.
“It didn’t seem to bother him that he didn’t get any shots the first half; that tells you a lot about their program and the players in that program.”
Boozer is currently the favorite to be the Wooden Award winner this season, after separating himself from top prospects like BYU Cougars star AJ Dybantsa and Kansas Jayhawks’ Darryn Peterson in the race for the prestigious accolade.
