Cameron Boozer Commitment
Cameron Sikander Boozer is not only the son of NBA All-Star Carlos Boozer but also one of the most accomplished and efficient high school basketball recruits ever. Cam is a 6’9, 235-pound, highly skilled, intelligent, and versatile forward from Miami, Florida. Cam is like a mixture of Jimmy Neutron and Skips from Regular Show because he mixes strength with IQ/skill better than anyone in the country. Since his sophomore year of high school, recruiting, and NBA draft analysts have worshiped and praised him. He secured the number-one ranking first in the 2025 recruiting class, but because of some reclassifications and no fault of his own, he currently ranks 2nd in the 247 consensus board. Cam has been dominating the grassroots and high school basketball scene for some time now, as he has won 3 Peach Jam titles (15u, 16u, 17u), a gold medal in the U17 World Cup, MVP of the U17 World Cup, 2023 Florida Mr. Basketball, FIBA U16 MVP, the 2024 Florida Gatorade Player of the Year and 3 7A State Championships in Florida. He has been winning almost everything while playing for the Nightrydas EYBL team and Columbus, and he has shown up every time his team plays in a big game or event. He is a rare talent and winner. His recruitment was a three-horse race with a cameo from one school. Those three horses were Miami, Florida, and Duke, and the cameo came from Kentucky when they had Calipari as their head coach. He officially visited all those schools and recently took some extra unofficial visits to Miami, Florida, and Duke. To many who have been following this recruitment, there have been two clear favorites dueling like Romans in a coliseum. Those 2 were Duke because of their connection with his father Carlos and because they are a blue blood and Miami because they were close to home and proven to play a fun and beneficial style of basketball under coach Larrañaga. Florida was cut once he set his commitment date, and it never really felt like they had a legitimate chance to steal him from the other schools. Both schools went pedal to the medal for Cam for good reason because he has the upside and skills to be a conference player of the year during his freshman year of college. Cam has star potential and has done things that no other former high school basketball player can say that they have done. He can go band-for-band with all his accomplishments, and his closet probably looks like Spongebob’s in that episode where he tried to help Patrick win a trophy (the episode was called Big Pink Loser). I love Cam and have been impressed and mesmerized every time I watch him play, so let’s dive into what makes him unique and break down his fit with his college of choice.
Image is from: cameronboozer Instagram
The Cameron Boozer extended crash course
Boozer is a traditional around-the-basket forward/big who continues to show off his growing perimeter and on-ball skills in every new game he plays. Cam has always stuffed the stats sheet in every game he plays. During the EYBL regular season, he averaged 24.5 points (led the EYBL), 13.4 rebounds (led the EYBL), 3.3 assists, 0.9 blocks, and 1.3 steals. Peach Jam he averaged 20.4 points, 10.1 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.0 blocks, and 1.1 steals. In his junior season with Columbus, he averaged 22.2 points, 11.4 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.6 steals, and 2.1 blocks. And finally, during the U17 World Cup, he averaged 20.1 points, 9.9 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 2.7 steals, and 0.7 blocks. Cam is a versatile forward with the skills to accomplish almost whatever his coach wants. He can serve as a play finisher, post-hub, primary ball handler in actions, floor spacer, primary defensive option, enforcer on the glass, and play any defensive coverage you want him to play. Let’s begin his crash course with arguably his best skill. His rebounding. He has been a double-double machine for some time now due to his relentless pursuit of second-chance opportunities on offense, his incredible technique for grabbing balls out of the air through traffic, and his Billy (from Grim Adventures) esque nose for the ball as a rebounder. His offensive rebounding can be game-changing at times because of his high understanding of positioning as a rebounder, incredible timing for when to snag an offensive rebounder, terrific second and third jumps, and unique ability to tap the ball off the glass or into the air to secure the rebounder. His offensive rebounding is huge in helping him get easy points and fixing missed opportunities for his team's offense. His defensive rebounding is also tremendous because he closes good defensive possessions instantly and does not let teams get second-chase opportunities. His rebounding is one of the big keys that helps him be a tremendous defensive anchor. Regarding his offensive game as a scorer, it’s best to start with his off-ball scoring because it is better than his on-ball scoring. Cameron is a great play finisher who can score off cuts and rolls and make open jumpers off the catch. His feel as a cutter is super high as he attacks gaps frequently whenever someone else has the ball, and he times his cuts super well with drives and against rotations made by opposing defenses. His hands help him catch so many balls when he is off the ball offensively. He catches all kinds of lobs and passes on the roll, grabs every pass he gets when he is in the dunker spot and catches everything whenever he cuts from the 3-point line or is running in transition. An underrated aspect of his off-ball scoring is how well he seals his defender out in the post. He uses his frame and strength to secure easy points at the rim and take advantage of smaller defenders. His shooting off the catch also bolsters his off-ball scoring. He can make catch-and-shoot 3-pointers, off-pick and pops, spot-ups, trails in transition, and whenever he is coming off an off-ball screen sometimes. I will use this to discuss his shooting in general because it has been a bit of a talking point around him as a recruit and could be the most consequential thing to his development and his biggest “issue” as a player. His shooting, to me, is pretty good and dangerous despite some of the inconsistent percentages across his events. So far, during his career at Columbus High, he shot 40.9% from 3, 33.7% during the entire EYBL season last season, and 33.3% during the U17 World Cup. His mechanics are pretty good. His release and wind-up are square and fluid. He gets a good arc on his shot, and his follow-through is textbook and pure. My only issue with his shot is his footwork because he is a hop shooter. He hops into his shots off the catch and needs a hop to get balanced on his shots off the bounce. I have said it before, but hop footwork in a jumper is not the best footwork to have because it can throw off the touch in your shot and your balance when shooting the ball. That footwork especially hurts him off the bounce because it often times makes his mechanics slower and unbalanced when he takes a pull-up jumper. His shooting is good enough for teams to run 5 out when he is their center, to run pick and pops frequently, and to pair with a non-spacing 5 or 4 man. It is also good enough to make an occasional mid-range pull-up when his drive get cut off, he is operating in the post, or whenever he is in the middle of the floor. However, his effectiveness off the bounce is still a work in progress. While his pull-up jumper is a mixed bag and hinders his abilities as a scorer on the ball, his downhill scoring and post skills allow him to garner responsibilities to operate with the ball and take advantage of his defender off the bounce. His post-scoring is more polished than his shot-creation skills because he uses his size well to overwhelm certain defenders. His post-scoring is not super smooth or dynamic, but his drop step and spin move are lethal and super effective when he has his back to the basket. Because of his lack of height and elite stationary vertical pop, he struggles to finish against bigger and longer rim protectors when on the block. That will likely limit his post touches and usage on higher levels. On the other hand, his handle might limit his shot creation off the dribble because he does not have a deep bag of moves, and his handle is very stiff and rigid. His athleticism, strength, and ball control allow him to score on drives and be a hause going downhill sometimes, which is extremely valuable and unique for when he plays the 5 in some lineups. His driving game is much more effective when coming off a handoff, ball screen, spot-up, or grab-and-go in transition, not in isolation. He just struggles to create separation with his handle because of his overall lack of fluidity as an athlete and ball handler. His handle is functional when initiating actions, attacking in a straight line, or leading the break. Still, he struggles to get lower than his defender, get him leaning a way, and create in the halfcourt whenever he tries to create something out of nothing off the bounce. His handle is still serviceable and effective enough for him to operate with the ball. Cam’s playmaking also allows him to operate with the ball a lot because he makes tremendous passing reads to cutters and shooters. His playmaking feel shows the most in transition because he is a tremendous grab-and-go threat who can find open runners in the open floor and make some mesmerizing home run passes after grabbing a defensive rebound. Him and Kevin Love are in a similar tier as outlet passers in transition. He also makes some incredible needle-threading passes whenever he has the ball stationary on the perimeter or in the short roll. His teams do an awesome job running off-ball actions whenever he has the ball stationary on the perimeter because he reads the floor so well, makes some amazing tight window passes, and reads help defenders very well when he is stationary. He does not get to show off his playmaking feel in the short roll because of some uncontrolled reasons, but he has the necessary short roll vision that every modern big needs and can do it at an elite level on top of that. His court vision and passing feel also show whenever he is doubled or draws 2 defenders to guard him as he finds the gaps so well and has shown some legitimate potential to be a useful post-hub. His passing feel out of double teams is so good that it makes teams second guess double teaming him because he will find where they came from and make quick decisions once he sees double teams. Lastly, his connective playmaking is very impressive, as he makes well-timed extra passes and quick reads off the catch. Defensively, Boozer is incredibly fascinating and productive, as he always has good steals and block averages. He is incredibly versatile, and this is proven by the number of ball screen coverages he can execute. He can defend in a drop, hedge, play the level, switch onto the perimeter, and showed real 1-5 guarding skills. Super shifty and controlled guards occasionally expose him in space. Still, he does a tremendous job shifting his feet and exerting multiple efforts when guarding in space and on the perimeter. His switchability can really bother opposing offenses because he can not be taken advantage of as easily as other bigs; he can bog down ball screen offenses by simply switching and not allowing penetration and provide lineup flexibility when needed. Switchability can do wonders for a team’s defense, and he has already proven to be a solid multi-positional defender. Switching is not his only good, delicious snake in his munchies bag of ball screen coverages that he can execute. He is also super solid at defending ball screens when playing the level or hedging. His mobility and roadrunner-esque hands allow him to stunt ball handlers when coming off a screen and prevent good scorers from walking into easy points or 1-level reads. Defensively, he lacks impressive measurements and leaping abilities to make things easier when he makes mistakes, but his IQ helps him be productive and helpful. He has the verticality, timing, and positioning but lacks the length and tree-like height to make all kinds of plays around the basket. Those limitations are why he does not get a ton of blocks from the weak side nor enforce fear into drivers and scorers around the basket. He does force kick-out passes and second thoughts with his rotations and positioning, but sometimes, his positioning is not enough to limit shots at the rim or clean up some mistakes made on the perimeter. Cameron has done things that many basketball players failed to do during their high school careers, and he has a consistent skill set that helps him produce the best in the class. Cam has the accolades, film, and statistics to make you fall in love with him as a prospect. His talent is gigantic and something you can’t ignore because he has the upside and talent to be a conference Player of the Year and a top 5 pick once he is done playing in college. Cam has been the cream of the crop for a long time in the 2025 recruiting class, and finally, we can discuss his fit with his future college.
Image is from: cameronboozer Instagram
No shocker that it was Duke
What is more shocking, Carlos Boozer's son committing to Duke or the Penguin being a masterpiece so far? The Penguin being a masterpiece is the answer because the whole show is not even out yet. Duke has been the clear team consistently during Cam’s recruitment, but it was never a foregone conclusion when, in reality, it probably should have been. Duke has become the premier school for top-level prospects because they have proven to develop top-notch talents, showcase them nationally, and let them compete against the best. Cam will likely have the opportunity to share the court with Darren Harris and Isaiah Evans, who are tremendous shooters and scorers who will bring experience with him, and share a frontcourt with Ngongba and Maliq Brown, who both can provide shot blocking and rim protection production that Cam likely won’t in college. Those returners should allow Cam to thrive next to some talented players and raise the floor of all of their skill sets. Cam is also going to get to play with his brother, which will allow him to continue to show off his terrific feel as a big in 2 man actions and have some familiarity at the guard spot while he is transitioning to a higher level of basketball. This is a big loss for Miami, but this recruitment was always something that could drastically help them and never hurt them because Miami has never been in these kinds of races for a top player in a recruiting class. Miami still has some intriguing freshmen to get excited about, like Matt Able, but of course, none of their current commitments are on the level of Cameron. This is the first commitment for Duke in the 2025 recruiting class and likely will be one of few because their assumed recruiting targets get a lot slimmer due to this commitment. I don’t see Nate Ament or Koa Peat committing to Duke now because they play the same position as Boozer and don’t have the skillsets to thrive cleanly next to Boozer. Cam is the perfect player to center your recruiting class around, and again, Schyer gets another top-10 recruit to commit to the Blue Devils.
