Son of Duke basketball alum has perfect name, dad-like game

No sense in dusting off an old chant just yet, but an offspring of a former Duke basketball big man does have both the suitable first name and promising game to potentially make him a fan-favorite in Durham one day.

I matriculated at Duke the same year as Carlos Boozer (1999). Two years later, I bought a beagle puppy and named him Boozer (he’s since passed away). And for these two reasons alone, I proclaim myself as much of an expert on all things Boozer as any Duke basketball fan out there.

So when I came across a mixtape of the son of the Juneau, Alaska, native this weekend, needless to say, I was intrigued. Although I remember hearing about Boozer’s twin boys about 18 months ago when they squared off against LeBron James’ youngest son, Bryce Maximus, I didn’t pay much attention; after all, at the time, they were only fifth-graders.

Now a seventh-grader, the twin who appears to have received his dad’s genes for height and interior footwork is exhibiting skills that have his old man retweeting his highlights (below) with the caption “BEAST MODE #HOLDAT” (for those unfamiliar with this hashtag, it’s a braggadocious catchphrase that Boozer picked up from former Chicago Bulls teammate Joakim Noah and turned into the name of his now-defunct podcast).

But Boozer, now an analyst for the ACC Network, didn’t just pass down his hoops-friendly DNA that helped lead to his national title (2001), his Duke record for career field goal percentage (63.1, the highest among those with at least 300 makes, for Zion Williamson came up four buckets short with his 68.0 clip last season), his Olympic gold medal (2008), his back-to-back All-Star Game appearances (2007, 2008), and his 13-year NBA career (2002-15).

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See, Boozer, who married Aneshkah Smith in 2017, also just so happened to give his son — one of three with his first wife, CeCe — a name that Duke’s Cameron Crazies would surely love nothing more than to cheer for one day: Cameron Boozer.

Like his pops, Cameron — his height is unlisted, but he appears to be about a foot taller than most of his peers in the above video — boasts a quick spin move and a moonball for a mid-range shot. Plus, he seems to confidently attack the basket in a bulldozer-like fashion similar to his father.

Just for the sake of a fun comparison and an excuse to turn back the Duke basketball clock roughly 20 years, let’s look at another recent mixtape of Cameron (from this past summer as a player for CBF Florida at a U.S. Amateur Basketball tournament) and then one of Carlos as a Blue Devil:

Now, take a look at the college game of the 6-foot-9, 260-pound Carlos, a center who displayed — minus some of Cameron’s sweet open-court handles — what is essentially a stronger, more advanced version of what you just watched:

Obviously, seeing that Cameron is in the class of 2025, there’s no sense in any of the current members of the Duke student section searching the all-time Cameron Crazies playbook for the “BOOOOZE” chant that existed back in my day.

That said, writing this article has got me thinking of the type of dog I want to get in about six years and name Boozer Junior. Of course, Cameron Boozer — or his twin, Cayden, who appears to be quicker and more of a perimeter player, or their older brother, Carmani, a class of 2024 bruiser — would first have to land a Duke offer and then accept it.

But considering Cameron Boozer’s first name and Brotherhood descent, seeing him in a Duke basketball jersey one day might just prove inevitable.

Stay tuned to Ball Durham for more updates, analyses, opinions, and predictions regarding all things Duke basketball.