The Duke basketball program is heading into the 2025-26 college hoops season as a true national title contender, but some analysts are hesitant to rank the Blue Devils at the very top with certain question marks surrounding the team. However, does the Boozer twins' constant success at the high school level make just using common sense a reason to take Duke to cut down the nets in March of 2026?
Jon Scheyer has the task of gelling a completely new team for this coming season after losing his entire starting five from Duke's Final Four team a season ago. Rightfully so, the inexperience and lack of proven production on the roster make the Blue Devils very difficult to evaluate for lots of experts.
However, the Boozer twins' continued success at the high school level may just be the golden ticket the Blue Devils need. Simply put, the Boozers just won in high school. In four years at Columbus (FL), Cameron and Cayden won four straight state championships, a Chipotle Boys National Championship as seniors, and three straight Nike EYBL Championships from 2022 to 2024 with Nightrydas Elite. The twins are also two-time Gold medalists, winning the 2023 FIBA U16 Americas Championship and the 2024 FIBA U17 Americas Championship. Both were named McDonald's All-Americans, while Cameron is a two-time Gatorade Boys National Player of the Year and a two-time Mr. Basketball USA selection. Cameron was the first high school player to win Mr. Basketball USA twice since LeBron James.
After it's all said and done, the Boozer twins don't lose, and they're bringing that elite championship-level pedigree to Durham this coming season, where both will be key contributors.
So, even though the Blue Devils have question marks with such a young squad and a ton of new pieces, should the fact that two of Duke's incoming freshmen stars never lost be a sign that the storied success will simply continue?
Insider Jeff Goodman touched on this recently too.
"You know, they're probably going to be a Final Four-ish caliber team, right. Elite 8, Final Four," Goodman said. "And then I keep saying to myself, 'Yeah, I don't know if they have enough to win the whole thing.' And then I say to myself, 'Well, like, the Boozer's, all they do is win the whole thing.'"
Cameron, the No. 3 overall recruit in the 247Sports 2025 Composite Rankings, and the four-star point guard Cayden, will look to bring potentially the most decorated resume in the history of high school basketball to Durham as Scheyer looks to deliver the sixth national title in program history.