The Duke Blue Devils will return to the court in the 2025-26 NCAA season with renewed expectations. After a dramatic collapse against the Houston Cougars in the 2025 NCAA tournament Final Four, Duke lost several players to the NBA, including Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel.
With Flagg out of the picture, they recruited another talented forward who is expected to lead the squad to another Final Four and perhaps a championship game. Cameron Boozer, son of Duke’s icon Carlos Boozer, joined the Blue Devils with his twin brother, Cayden, to continue with their family legacy in Durham.
Jon Scheyer couldn’t be more excited about his new star forward, who he thinks shares similarities with another former No. 1 overall pick.
Jon Scheyer compares Cameron Boozer to former Duke top prospect
During a conversation with Jon Rothstein on an episode of the “Inside College Basketball” podcast, Scheyer discussed what can be expected from Boozer. He went as far as to say that Boozer shares similarities with Paolo Banchero.
Paolo Banchero #5 of the Orlando Magic
“He’s like Paolo from a body perspective,” Scheyer said. “There’s differences in their game for sure, but Paolo, when he stepped on the floor, he always knocked people back with how big he was. I think Cam has the ability to do the same thing. He’s always been the biggest guy on the floor and now he gets a chance to play with Pat (Ngongba) and Maliq (Brown) where he’s not going to be the biggest guy. I think that’s a huge advantage for him, using his size and then having the ball skills of a guard.”
Their phenotype are very similar. Boozer is listed at 6-foot-9 and 250 pounds on Duke’s website, while Banchero, now with the Orlando Magic, was listed at 6-foot-10 and 250 pounds when he was with the Blue Devils. It remains to be seen how far he can go with the Blue Devils this season and if he can take them to the top of college basketball.
