Duke’s Cameron Boozer Named AP Player of the Year

INDIANAPOLIS – Duke men’s basketball freshman Cameron Boozer has been named the Associated Press National Player of the Year, the organization announced on Friday, April 3.

Boozer is just the fifth freshman to win the award, joining fellow Blue Devils Cooper Flagg (2025) and Zion Williamson (2019), along with Anthony Davis (2012) and Kevin Durant (2007).

A native of Miami, Florida, Boozer becomes the ninth Blue Devil to be named National Player of the Year by the AP, more than any other program in the award’s 65-year history. The only other schools with three or more recipients are UCLA with five, Ohio State with four and North Carolina and Virginia each with three.

With his AP honors, Boozer has now been voted the National Player of the Year by five organizations, having already earned the accolade from the United State Basketball Writers Associated (USBWA), National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), The Sporting News and CollegeInsider.com. Boozer also swept ACC Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year honors and was named ACC Tournament Most Valuable Player. He is Duke’s 26th consensus first-team All-American since 1949, the most of any program in that span.

The freshman forward led Duke in scoring, rebounding and assists, averaging 22.5 points, 10.2 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game while shooting 55.6% from the field. He started all 38 contests, totaling 855 points, 389 rebounds and 157 assists.

Boozer’s season was defined by remarkable consistency and historic production. He recorded at least 13 points, five rebounds and two assists in every game, the longest such streak by any Division I player (men’s or women’s) this century.

He is the first freshman or sophomore to average at least 20 points, 10 rebounds and four assists in a season since Larry Bird in 1976-77, and the only Division I player in the last 30 years to total 700 points, 300 rebounds and 100 assists while shooting at least 50% from the field in a single regular season.

Boozer’s impact extended beyond traditional statistics. He finished atop the KenPom Player of the Year rankings with a 2.942 rating, the highest since the system’s current format was introduced in 2013, and led the EvanMiya Player Performance Rankings with a 14.44 mark, the best recorded since 2010.

The forward tied for the national lead with 22 double-doubles and became just the second Duke freshman to reach that total in a season, while ranking ninth in the nation in scoring and 12th in rebounding. He also set the Duke freshman records for rebounds (389) and free throws made (221), while finishing second in program history for freshman scoring with 855 points.

Boozer tallied 13 games of 25 or more points, including two 35-point performances. He also led all players in points, rebounds and assists in seven games, the most by an ACC player in a season over the last 30 years.

During the course of the season, Boozer earned ACC Player of the Week honors five times and ACC Rookie of the Week recognition 10 times, sweeping both awards on five occasions, a feat matched by only one other player in league history, Duke’s Cooper Flagg in the 2024-25 campaign.

The award is voted on by a panel of 61 media members who regularly cover college basketball and is based on regular-season performance.

With his national honors, Boozer becomes the 13th different Blue Devil to earn National Player of the Year recognition and the 10th to receive the honor from multiple outlets in the same season.