Carlos Boozer spurned gifts from other schools to attend Duke, he says

Former Duke basketball standout Carlos Boozer turned down offers of cars and money in order to play for Duke, he said on a podcast he hosts with former Washington basketball and football player Nate Robinson.

Boozer, speaking on the "NCAA investigation reaction" episode of Sports Illustrated's HOLDAT podcast with Robinson on Feb. 28, said other schools offered him many gifts, including Jeep Cherokees, and $1,000 a month.

But Boozer, 36, said his upbringing caused him to turn it all down for the chance to play for Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski.

"I’m going to be honest, I was a kid that turned it down," Boozer said. "I was raised by my mom and dad — shout out Renee and Carlos Sr. — when I was getting recruited ... I was one of the top players in my class and had a lot of schools coming after me. Obviously I’m not going to out anybody on this show, but I had a lot of schools coming out for me.

"I had schools telling me that if you come to my school you’ll start right away, we’ll give you a Jeep Cherokee, which at that time was one of the hottest whips out, we’ll give you $1,000 a month, you don’t have to go to class, you just gotta come play ball for us."

Boozer wasn't impressed.

"And that turned me off because I wasn’t used to getting handouts," he said. "I was used to working for everything I ever got. That’s how my mom and dad worked; my mom and dad had two jobs each. They were busting their chops making sure they could feed all five mouths they had, they had five kids so they were trying to make sure that we could all eat. And so I’m used to seeing my parents as an example — don’t take no handouts, you gotta work for everything you get. So I told these universities no, and I ended up going to Duke. They didn’t offer me nothing.

"Coach K sat in my living room in Alaska and was like, ‘You’re the top player in your class, but I can’t even promise you you’re going to start at this school. You’re going to have to earn it. We’ve got seven All-Americans coming in, you’re one of them if you decide to come here.’ I’m like, ‘Oh, you’re challenging me. I like that. I need a challenge.' "

Boozer was up for that challenge.

"So for me, that turned me on," he said. "That made me excited to have to go work for what I wanted, where I had other schools — again, they’ll remain nameless — telling me you don’t have to worry about class, you can be a dumb jock, we’ll pay you to come to our school $1,000 a month, which to me is a lot of bread. I was used to getting no money a month. So that was a big deal for me.

"But I didn’t want to owe nobody nothing, I wanted to be able to work for everything I got and be able to look back and be like, ‘I did it the right way and I don’t owe nobody nothing but my mom and my dad and the people that supported me — my sisters, my brothers.’ I’ve been blessed with great siblings to be my support system. I didn’t want to owe nobody nothing so I turned that stuff down, went to Duke and worked my butt off and became a starter as a freshman. That was challenge enough for me."

Boozer, 6-9, grew up in Juneau, Alaska, and was one of the highest-rated recruits in 1999. His final three schools were Duke, St. John's and UCLA. He verbally committed to Duke on April 3, 1999 at the Magic Johnson Roundball Classic in Auburn Hills, Mich.

He seemed apprehensive when asked about his commitment then.

"It was just a feeling; nothing more," Boozer told the N&O at the 1999 event. "I won't get into why I chose Duke over the other places. The decision was a lot harder than I anticipated, but I felt that the best situation for me was at Duke.

"I met a lot of great coaches in a lot of great situations, but I felt the best one was at Duke with Mike Krzyzewski."

Boozer was a forward at Duke from 1999-2002, helping the Blue Devils win the 2001 NCAA basketball championship. He then played 13 seasons in the NBA, averaging 16.2 points and 9.5 rebounds per game. He played one season in China before announcing his retirement on Dec. 18, 2017.

This story was originally published March 1, 2018 at 11:46 AM with the headline "Carlos Boozer spurned gifts from other schools to attend Duke, he says."