Ask Cayden Boozer when the last time he and twin brother, Cameron, had a tournament, and it takes a minute for him to remember. He pauses, looks into the air for a second and ponders.
Eventually, the 17-year-old point guard phenom has his answer. He mentions a popular in-season tournament in Florida that his high school team had lost the last two seasons, as well as an event his high school team had dropped in Arizona during the summer after his freshman year. They still eat at him, he says.
The one thing that’s hard to find on the Boozer twins’ loaded basketball résumé is losses. The twins have won three straight state championships at Christopher Columbus High in Miami, a school that had never won one before they arrived. They’ve led their AAU program, Nightrydas Elite, to Peach Jam championships (the biggest event of the summer) at the 15U, 16U and 17U level, becoming the first team ever to sweep all three years. Cameron and Cayden each have two gold medals from playing with USA Basketball, first at the U16 Americas tournament and then at the U17 World Cup this summer. And individually, Cameron has two Florida Mr. Basketball awards to his name and a Gatorade National Player of the Year award.
Together, Cameron and Cayden have conquered the youth basketball scene like few others in recent memory. Now, the sons of NBA all-star Carlos Boozer are ready to take the next step on their long-forecasted path to the pros: college basketball. The twins have committed to Duke, the same school their father played at more than two decades ago. And just like their dad, they have their sights set on bringing home a national title before heading to the NBA.
“If that’s not our standard, we’re selling ourselves short,” Cameron says.