By ADAM ZAGORIA
NORTH AUGUSTA, S.C. — As two of the top prospects in all of high school basketball, Cam and Cayden Boozer will have plenty of options as far as their next step in the basketball world.
They could choose one of the many pro or semipro routes now available to top prospects — G League Ignite, Overtime Elite, the Australian NBL.
Those pathways have become more and more common in recent years, with three of the top five picks in last month’s NBA Draft coming out of Ignite and Overtime Elite.
But the Boozer twins, the sons of former Duke and NBA star Carlos Boozer, say they plan on going the more traditional route after finishing up at Christopher Columbia High School in Miami.
“Of course, there are more options. For some people, that’s the best route, but for me, I feel like college is the best move,” Cam Boozer, a 6-foot-9 rising junior ranked the No. 1 power forward in the Class of 2025, said Thursday at Peach Jam after putting up 19 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists in an 82-55 rout of the PSA Cardinals in the 16U bracket.
“College is a great experience, a once in a lifetime experience, you don’t want to miss out on that.”
Asked what he wants out of college, Cam didn’t hesitate.
“Education, a competitive basketball [team] and a national championship,” he said.
He and his brother won’t have shortage of options, either.
Duke coach Jon Scheyer, Kentucky’s John Calipari and North Carolina’s Hubert Davis — all with assistant coaches in tow — sat front and center in a jam-packed gym Thursday afternoon to watch the twins. Miami, Louisville, Michigan, Missouri, Arkansas and Florida are also pursuing Cam Boozer.
And while some believe it’s a foregone conclusion that the twins will end up at Duke because their father went there and won an NCAA championship in 2001, Calipari and Davis wouldn’t be spending valuable recruiting time and capital on the twins if they didn’t believe they at least had a chance.
“I’m taking it slow, waiting on the start of my senior year to focus on that,” Cam said of where his recruitment stands.
“Whichever school wants me and fits me and I feel like I’m a good fit for, that’s where I’m going to go.”
Duke is obviously heavily linked to the twins given their father’s pedigree.
Cam said the Blue Devils were pushing for him “a good amount.”
Asked about Scheyer, he said, “He’s a good coach. He was following up an all-time great, so it was tough but I think he’s going to do a good job the next couple years.”
Kentucky and North Carolina both recently offered the twins and appear to have a real chance.
“Obviously, [Kentucky] is a great program all-time,” Cam said. “Always have great players, high-level players, they have a lot of success in the NBA. So it’s a good school that knows how to develop their players to get to the next level.”
Asked what the offer from Kentucky meant, Cam added: “[Calipari] says he’s coached a lot of great guys, which obviously he has. He says he’s not going to lie to me, he’s going to be straightforward. That he takes the best players and develops them to the next level and he wants the opportunity to coach me.”
Asked what his father thinks about North Carolina recruiting the twins, Cam said, “I”m definitely interested, it’s a great school. There’s no reason not to be.”
He added: “They want me, they want to build a relationship, they want me to come play for them.”
Cayden Boozer, the No. 3-ranked point guard in his class, had similar feelings. He said the Kentucky offer meant a great deal.
“I’ve been watching Kentucky since I was young, they’re always in the tournament,” he said. “Just having a school like Kentucky offer me, a school that’s a winning program, it’s just a great feeling.”
He added of Calipari: “He wants me as well, it’s not just wanting Cameron, he wants me as a player as well. And he’s just really excited to build a relationship and see me develop.”
The North Carolina offer also meant something special to Cayden.
“I mean, it was a blessing to get that offer,” he said. “Just talking to Coach Davis and the new staff, it was just a great experience. And my dad was happy for me. He just wants me to have my own path, so getting the offer was good even though it’s a rival from his school.”
Cayden also recently said that Miami was recruiting him the hardest.
“I’d say the school recruiting me the hardest is Miami,” he told ZAGSBLOG in May at USA Basketball mini-camp. “We’re a hometown team and they’ve known us since we were babies basically, so I feel like they’ve been recruiting us the hardest for sure,”
Like his brother, Cayden likes the pro options available to high school kids now, but has his heart set on college.
“It gives kids more options, if somebody wants to go to the G League, they can now,” he said. “And if somebody wants to go to Overtime Elite or overseas, they also can. College is still an option for most people as well.”
And with NIL incomes sometimes reaching the high-six figures, why not?
“Yeah, I’m going to college,” Cayden said. “I’m not really worried about the other options. I mean, college has the best atmosphere and is the best experience for me, personally.”
He added: “My mom definitely wants me to get my degree, so that’s probably the main thing.”
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