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Sporting News 2025-26 College Basketball Player of the Year: Duke's Cameron Boozer is the ultimate winner originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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The "Year of the Freshman" emerged as the predominant theme of the 2025-26 men's college basketball season. 

Duke's Cameron Boozer, Arkansas' Darius Acuff Jr. and BYU's AJ Dybantsa – all players who average more than 22 points – were Sporting News first-team All-America selections. NBA Mock Drafts project freshmen to be selected with the first seven picks of the 2026 NBA Draft – a cast that includes Kansas' Darryn Peterson, North Carolina's Caleb Wilson, Houston's Kingston Flemings, and Illinois' Keaton Wagler. 

What separates Boozer  – aside from an over-crowded stat sheet? The 6-foot-9, 250-pound forward continues to be the ultimate winner. He played on four state championship teams at Christopher Columbus High School in Miami, Fla. He played on championship teams at the Nike Peach Jam three times and for the United States in the FIBA Americas Championships at the U16 and U17 level. He did that against, and sometimes with, all of those superstar freshmen. 

"I played against almost every top guy – whether it's with my high-school team, my AAU team or at camps," Boozer told The Sporting News. "We played basically with or against almost everyone.  Everyone talked about our class being a great class before we even got to college. I'm sure we exceeded expectations. I obviously had a lot of confidence in myself coming into the year. So, yeah, I'm not surprised by how great our freshman class is playing."

Duke is 29-2 heading into the ACC tournament coming off a regular-season championship. In the "Year of the Freshman," Boozer has been the most consistent force. For his efforts, Boozer is The Sporting News 2025-26 Men's Basketball Player of the Year. 

"It's incredible," Duke coach Jon Scheyer told SN. "The ability to impact the game in three offensive phases. You're able to control the game with the scoring, the rebounding and the passing. It's unbelievable. He's a walking double-double."

MORE: Sporting News 2026 College Basketball All-America team

Cameron Boozer is SN's College Basketball Player of the Year 

Boozer led Duke with 22.7 points per game, 10.2 rebounds per game and 4.1 assists per game in 2025-26. Cooper Flagg (2025) and Danny Ferry (1987) were the last two Blue Devils to lead the team in all three categories in a single season. Flagg was the No. 1 overall pick in his draft, and Ferry was the No. 2 pick in his. Boozer stepped into that role for the Blue Devils – a program coming off a Final Four appearance in 2024-25. 

"It's a game-changer, right?" Scheyer said. "The fact you're able to control the possession battle with the rebounding, the firepower with the passing and the scoring. It just changes the way you play. It's been something that has been incredible to have."

Boozer has 17 double-doubles. He closed the regular season with a 26-point, 15-rebound, five-assist masterpiece in a 76-61 victory against North Carolina at Cameron Indoor Stadium on March 7. Scheyer said that production stems from Boozer's talent – but it also comes from the every-day approach the freshman brings to practice and film study. From that standpoint, Scheyer said Boozer is ahead of the game. 

That helps explain a 58.3% field-goal percentage, which ranks 30th in Division I. Boozer is the only player ranked in the top-50 in field-goal percentage with more than 400 shot attempts.

"Yeah, there's scoring and all that, but he's really studying the game from the standpoint of how to win in the margins," Scheyer said. "The ability to process – to make real-time decisions in games – whether it's a pass, a lob, a bounce pass, he's just a connecting player. He's a winning player. It's a very rare combination to have his size and ball skills but also the mind to process the game. It's unique."

Take a sequence from Saturday's game matchup against the Tar Heels. Boozer rolled off a screen and took a quick pass from Caleb Foster. Boozer drew a quick double team and flipped an alley-oop to Dame Sarr for the dunk, which had ESPN analyst Jay Bilas raving about the "next-level processing" on the telecast.

CAM TO FREAK 🔨 pic.twitter.com/cMctaWB8Wn

— Duke Men's Basketball (@DukeMBB) March 7, 2026

Boozer also has become adept at the pass before the assist – the one that beats frequent double teams. It is a basketball version of a "hockey assist" – one that does not show up in the stat sheet. 

"Two passes to beat it,"  Boozer said. "It is just making the right read. Teammates are making the right play after you make the right play, so that's something we definitely talk about." 

Boozer learned the art of rebounding from his father Carlos, a former Duke standout who averaged 23 points and 11.1 in three seasons with Duke from 1999-2002. Cameron's mother CeCe also preached the importance of rebounding from an early age. 

"A lot of it is feel, but a lot of it is also effort," Cameron Boozer said. "I think I learned from an early age because I was a bigger guy. I was on a team with a bunch of guards, so I had to rebound. It's also something my dad used to separate himself early in his career. Rebounding was something that was emphasized since I was little, for sure."

Scheyer said Boozer shows a fundamental skill required to become an elite rebounder – whether it's in the paint or on long rebounds on the perimeter. 

"He's the best two-handed rebounder I've ever been around," Scheyer said. "He goes after plays with two hands. He's got as strong of hands I've seen. He's as good of in-traffic rebounder that I've ever coached."

Boozer now has the opportunity to take his place among Duke legends in the arena where it is remembered most – the ACC men's basketball tournament and 2026 NCAA Tournament.

DECOURCY: Expanding the NCAA tournament is pointless

Zachary Taft/USA TODAY Network

Cameron Boozer on Duke heading into March Madness 

Boozer is the eighth Duke player to win Sporting News Men's Basketball Player of the Year honors. He pauses when hearing the names of some of the past winners. 

"It's definitely special," Boozer said. "Laettner. Battier. It's great to be in the conversation with guys like that. It's an honor, especially with how many Duke guys have won the award, so yeah, it's great for sure."

Sporting News Player of the Year winners from Duke

Laettner and Battier helped Duke win national championships. Laettner was part of back-to-back national title teams in 1990-91 and 1991-92. Battier played on a national championship team in 2001-02 with Carlos Boozer and Jay Williams, who won SN Player of the Year honors the following season. It is a legacy within a legacy. 

Duke is dealing key with injuries heading into the ACC tournament. Foster suffered a stress fracture in his right foot, and center Patrick Ngongba II is dealing with a foot injury. Boozer's twin brother Cayden could see more time as a result. All that means Cameron Boozer will be counted on even more in the tournament season.

MORE: Selection committee should not adjust seeding due to injuries

"When adversity comes, he is not fazed by it," Scheyer said. "He's just got the unique composure to handle those moments. I credit him for just being wired – just being obsessed with basketball and studying the game for a long time. I think it makes him incredibly prepared for those moments."

"I've been in a lot of big-time moments, big-time games," Boozer added. "I think just the preparation for the summer and a lot of end-of-game situations all summer. Getting ready for late-game situations against other teams where you could be down or you could be up and learning where you want to attack in those moments."

A regular-season matchup against then-No. 1 Michigan in the Edward Jones Capital Showcase in Washington D.C. on Feb. 21 was an example of those defining moments. The game had a Final Four-like atmosphere. Boozer hit a clutch 3-pointer with 1:55 remaining in a 68-63 victory. Boozer finished with 18 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists with just one turnover – the closest he's come to a triple-double this season. 

"In our biggest moments – the moments like Michigan, Texas Tech – whoever it is, whatever game – I just think that's the big thing with him," Scheyer said. "He's not chasing numbers at the end of the game when we're up 35. He's doing this in the biggest moments when we need him the most and he has all the attention on him."

Yet Boozer continues to deflect that attention to others – the sign of a truly great player. That composure and maturity continues to stand out – especially for a freshman.

"My coaches and my teammates have made it easy for me to succeed this year," Boozer said. "Putting me in the right spots, trusting me with the ball and obviously finishing off great plays and setting me up. I wouldn't be here without them, and there is a lot more to come for the rest of the year."

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