Former NBA star Carlos Boozer’s twin sons Cameron and Cayden chose to commit to the Duke Blue Devils on Friday. Many opine that the decision came from their father and two-time NBA All-Star Carlos Boozer’s history with the Blue Devils—he played under the legendary Mike Krzyzewski from 1999-2002. But if the insider details of the commitment are to be believed, then two didn’t just opt for the Durham-based program. Instead, the duo had, at one point, almost selected another program before making a last-minute turnaround…

According to a tweet by Sportswriter Brendan Marks on Friday, Miami had urged the twins to commit to their program. Surprisingly, it was quite recently that the two decided to choose Jon Scheyer. “Contrary to popular belief, the Boozer twins were not always Duke locks — Miami, especially, took this thing down to the wire, with the Blue Devils pulling ahead VERY recently. Huge recruiting win for Jon Scheyer, who gets his centerpiece(s) for next season’s team,” Marks tweeted.

As per reports, the twins had made an official visit to the Duke in November last year when the Blue Devils were hosting Arizona. However, they were not very convinced, particularly since they reside in Miami and played for the Florida-based Christopher Columbus High School. Even Marks, while revealing their commitment process, opined that “convincing a kid to leave home can always be ~a thing~.” 

However, all’s well that ends well, and their father couldn’t be happier about it. “I’m proud of them. They’ve worked their butts off for this moment…Really excited that they took their time. Decided to play together in college, which is amazing. They both complement each other so well. They made the best decision for them. Me and Mom couldn’t be any prouder. It’s going to be a fun journey,” the veteran told ESPN on October 10.

The brothers, enrolled at the Christopher Columbus school in Florida is indeed a blistering duo. Cameron, a 6’9″ power forward, led his high school team with 22.2 points, 11.4 rebounds, and 2.1 blocks per game as a junior, in the 2023-24 season. As per 247Sports, the 17-year-old is also the second-best in the ‘2025 Top Basketball Recruits’ list. “Boozer is the surest thing in high school basketball…He has an extremely versatile and mature two-way floor game. It’s just hard to envision a scenario where he’s not a successful basketball player at the highest levels for years to come,” 247 Sports Sports Director of Scouting Adam Finkelstein opined.

Cayden averaged 12.0 points and 7.6 assists per game, a blistering 2.49 assist-to-turnover ratio, and is currently No. 21 on 247 Sports’ list. As per Finkelstein, the Point Guard “leverages his size well, understands how to use his body, and benefits from his ability to see over top of smaller defenders as a passer. He’s also a very good perimeter rebounder.”

ESPN’s National Director of Recruiting Paul Biancardi, on the other hand, named Cayden as the “best passer in high school basketball and demonstrates outstanding ball security”. 

Notably, the brothers returned to the Duke campus for a Labor Day visit and also made trips to Miami and Florida campuses over the next few weeks. The decision was a tough one since Miami has been an NIL leader since the onset of the policy, and has multiple stars in the top 100 including footballer Cam Ward, who occupies the seventh place in the NIL 100 as per On3.

Plus, the Hurricanes also made it to the Final Four in 2023 compared to the Blue Devils who last made it to that stage in 2022. Meanwhile, Miami also signed major players this summer including the five-star recruit Jalil Bethea, which could have made it difficult for the Boozers to make a choice. But thankfully for Duke fans, the twins ultimately went with their family legacy.

The Blue Devils to be the best program in recruitment

After Coach K left the Blue Devils in 2022, his mentee Scheyer took over the program. Though the 37-year-old hasn’t demonstrated any extraordinary qualities as a coach up until now, he took his team to the Elite Eight this season, an improvement from his first year. But the Blue Devils loyalists opine that one thing that can turn the tides in the head coach’s favor is his recruitment.

In October last year, Scheyer landed the program a five-star recruit in the form of Cooper Flagg. The freshman guard has gained a lot of traction after being projected as the number-one pick in the NBA 2025 draft. Similarly, Cameron Boozer is also expected to be the numero-uno pick in the 2026 NBA draft. Looks like Scheyer has given much attention to recruiting in a phase where transfers happen in the blink of an eye and the dynamics of the game change easily.

Other top-notch recruits include Khaman Maluach and Isaiah Evans. All this has already built a lot of pressure on other teams since Scheyer won’t be rotating anyone smaller than 6-foot-5. He has set high standards for the program in the recruitment aspect. Perhaps, the Blue Devils will change how the game is played over the next few years.