Duke freshman Cam Boozer makes uneven college basketball debut for Blue Devils
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Boozer was scoreless in first half and Duke trailed Texas 33-32 at halftime.
- After a much better second half, Boozer ended up with 15 points and 13 rebounds.
- Duke closed strong to win game 75-60; Isaiah Evans led all scorers with career-high 23.
For one half, both Duke and star freshman Cameron Boozer looked pedestrian Tuesday night at the inaugural Dick Vitale Invitational in Charlotte.
Texas, not only unranked but picked to finish ninth in the 16-team Southeastern Conference, led the Blue Devils 33-32 at halftime. Boozer, the freshman so highly touted that he’s the potential No.1 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, had scored zero points and shot 0-for-7. A crowd of 12,435 at the Spectrum Center — officially a neutral venue but in reality 95% Duke fans — hadn’t had much to cheer about.
Boozer didn’t look much like the second coming of Cooper Flagg, that much was for sure.
The second half looked far better. No. 6 Duke won going away, 75-60, in both teams’ season opener. Boozer scored all 15 of his points in that half and ended up with 13 rebounds, too. But the Blue Devils’ first game of the season was a reminder that what Flagg did last season — and the sport of college basketball in general — just isn’t as easy as Flagg so often made it look.
Said Boozer: “Obviously a tough first half. ... (Duke coach Jon) Scheyer challenged me at halftime, said I played soft in the first half. Which, you know, is true.”
Instead of settling for 3-pointers, Boozer took the ball hard to the basket in the second half while a Duke team with obviously superior talent to Texas got untracked. Boozer’s numbers still weren’t nearly as impressive as they were in Duke’s two exhibition wins. He ended up shooting only 3-for-12 from the field. With his father Carlos in the building and his twin brother Cayden on the floor with him, Cameron ended up with the same number of turnovers (three) as field goals.
“For Cam, first game as a freshman and he doesn’t have his best stuff,” Scheyer said. “He comes out in the second half and has 15 and 12 (actually 15 and 13) on an off night. Not bad at all.”
To Scheyer’s point, even in an erratic game like this one, you could see loads of potential. Texas coach Sean Miller said Boozer was probably the best freshman in the country and a “one-man wrecking crew.’
Boozer, a 6-foot-9 forward, drew a game-high 10 fouls and also had three steals. His brother Cayden, a 6-4 guard, came off the bench, playing 13 minutes and scoring two points.
Although Texas led at halftime, it felt all the way through that Duke was inevitably going to make a run. “I think we were down one (point), and we had played a terrible first half,” Boozer said.
Not quite everyone had been terrible in the first half. Isaiah Evans, who was quite familiar with the Charlotte venue having starred at North Mecklenburg High, had 15 points at halftime and a game-high 23 altogether. The rest of the Duke team followed the lead of Boozer and Evans in the second half, giving the Duke blue crowd a comfortable win.
The game also featured a few bells and whistles in conjunction with its namesake. Vitale, now 86, was there calling the action for ESPN. Before the game there was a tribute video about Vitale, narrated by former Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski. It was well-produced and, by the end, had brought Vitale to tears. Several other tributes to Vitale aired on the scoreboard throughout the game.
By the end, Vitale was interviewing Cameron Boozer, and the circle seemed complete. Vitale had covered Boozer’s father, Carlos, during Duke’s championship season of 2001.
Anything less than another national title will be a disappointment for the Boozer family this season, and that’s a high bar to clear. Flagg, for all his national player of the year awards, couldn’t do it. Now it’s Boozer’s turn. If you go by the first half, there would be no way.
But if you go by the second — yeah, there’s a chance.
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