It was an up-and-down freshman season for Cayden Boozer. Playing in the shadow of his brother, who won the National Player of the Year Award, the college adjustment didn't come as easily or naturally for him.
But Boozer played his best basketball down the stretch of the season, particularly when he stepped into the starting point guard role in place of an injured Caleb Foster.
He was outstanding in back-to-back ACC Tournament wins over Clemson and Virginia to help Duke capture the title. He played a pivotal role in Duke avoiding a major Round 1 upset against 16-seed Siena in the NCAA Tournament, too, dropping a career-high 19 points in the six-point win.
And against UConn in the Elite Eight, Boozer had a great performance up until the closing moments. He stuffed the stat sheet with 15 points, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists. Nobody remembers that, though.
Instead, everyone remembers his turnover at the end of the game that led to Braylon Mullins getting off a 35-foot heave at the buzzer that went down and sent Duke home. Boozer took a lot of undue criticism for the turnover.
Jon Scheyer immediately had his back in the aftermath and has continued to do so. But the Duke head coach has continued to be impressed with how his rising sophomore has handled himself in the aftermath of such a heartbreaking loss.
“If I could have had one guy with the ball in his hands it would be Cayden Boozer at that time in the game,” Scheyer said this week at the Durham Sports Club, via News & Observer. “He made every clutch free throw last season, made sound decisions. It was a crazy play. It was a play where it went great for us and they kind of did everything wrong. We had two guys open for a dunk. You really need to foul in that position."
Jon Scheyer belives Cayden Boozer's response will lead to a big sophomore season
Boozer is part of the reason there's such optimism for Duke's backcourt this season. He returns alongside Foster, and then Duke added star transfer John Blackwell and elite freshman Deron Rippey Jr.
It's a crowded group that will be extremely competitive for minutes, but Boozer will play a pivotal role in year two in Durham. Scheyer believes the adversity he faced to end last season, and his response to it, will set him up for a big season.
“And also, Cayden Boozer, the way he responded, was off the charts for me," Scheyer said. "He took total responsibility, which he didn’t have to do. He felt horrible, obviously. But as a competitor, to want to come back to Duke, to take the step forward and not run from it, I think is such a sign of character, such a sign of leadership. And he’s going to have a great year because of it.”
Boozer had the opportunity to leave if he wanted to. He would have been one of the most high-profile players in the Transfer Portal, and with Cameron leaving for the NBA, he would have had an easy excuse to seek a fresh start and a clean slate.
The fact that he stayed to face it head-on shows a lot about who he is. The fact that he stayed to compete despite the talent that the Blue Devils added this offseason shows a lot about him as well.
Foster and Blackwell are the projected starters in the backcourt, but Boozer should be the top guard off the bench. And he should be one of the most impactful bench guards in the entire country.
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