As we look at what Duke has done throughout the early stages of the basketball season, we have to be impressed with what they’ve done on both sides of the ball.
Duke currently sits at 9-0 and has some very impressive wins. After beating Florida on Tuesday, Arkansas on Thanksgiving, Kansas a week before that, Texas to start the season, and other mid-major wins, Duke has done what it’s needed to do. A lot of that is due to what freshman Cameron Boozer has done, as he’s currently averaging 22.9 points and 9.8 rebounds.
For some, Boozer is the clear favorite to win the Freshman of the Year award, including Cameron Salerno of CBS Sports, who believes he might even be the National Player of the Year right now.
“Entering the month of December, Boozer is the favorite to win National Player of the Year. He has an opportunity to become the second consecutive player from Duke to win the award as a freshman after Cooper Flagg accomplished the feat last season. Boozer's next test -- literally and figuratively -- is a matchup against Florida this week,” he wrote.
Boozer certainly has an opportunity to do that, but it’s still fair to question whether he’ll be the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft.
While he’s played as well as anybody could have imagined, some still don’t believe he’s the top prospect in this class, including Derek Parker, who recently had him going second overall to the Indiana Pacers.
“Those closely watching Cameron Boozer were concerned with the athleticism and touch for all of about five minutes before he returned for monster performances against Howard and No. 22 Arkansas, and he’s now back on track to become one of the more statistically dominant true freshmen we’ve ever seen.
“Boozer is clean fit nearly anywhere, but especially for the high-octane Pacers, who lost Myles Turner in the offseason, and could really use a high-feel front-court boost next to Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam,” he wrote.
I don’t hate the idea of Darryn Peterson going above Boozer, but it likely comes down to what a team needs.
On the surface, it still feels like people believe Boozer is the third-best player in this class. I don’t think that’s the wrong take, but he’s also been the best player in the country by a wide margin, especially for a freshman, in my opinion.