Duke basketball rarely operates in the shadows, especially not fresh off a Final Four run and the nation’s top-ranked 2025 recruiting class en route. But incoming five-star freshman Cameron Boozer, the reigning Gatorade National Player of the Year and son of former NBA All-Star Carlos Boozer, is bringing a mindset that suggests Duke still has something to prove.
“I think we’re very overlooked right now, but once the season starts, that’ll change for sure,” Boozer told ESPN.
Overlooked? With a little more than 100 days until the 2025–26 season tips off, Duke holds the third-best odds (+1300) to win the national championship, per FanDuel Sportsbook — trailing only Purdue (+900) and Houston (+1000).
It’s a bold claim, but one that reflects the edge and urgency Duke’s freshmen core is bringing into the season. Boozer ranks as the No. 1 power forward and No. 3 overall prospect in the 2025 recruiting class, per 247Sports. He is one of three new five-star enrollees for the Blue Devils alongside fellow power forward Nikolas Khamenia and Italian guard Dame Sarr.
His twin brother, Cayden Boozer, is also a top-25 recruit and a dynamic playmaker at point guard, giving Duke one of the most talented and versatile freshman classes in the country.
“We have a huge chip because we know that we have the talent and the team to be the best team in the country, and I generally feel like we will be the best team in the country,” Cameron told ESPN. “So that puts a huge chip on us that people are overlooking us saying that we’re not the team we were last year and everything like that. I feel like everyone will see that once the season comes, but we’re not too worried about stuff like that.”
This past season, Duke made its second Final Four appearance in four years and its first under coach Jon Scheyer, the former Blue Devils standout who succeeded Mike Krzyzewski following his retirement after the 2021-22 season.
Duke has obviously remained a fixture in the national conversation, but is still searching for its first national championship since 2015. The 10-year drought is the program’s longest since Coach K delivered Duke’s first national titles with back-to-back championships in 1991 and 1992.
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