How Duke basketball’s Cayden Boozer took advantage of his first college start
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Duke started Cayden Boozer for the first time; he scored 13 points and 31:25.
- He added five rebounds and three assists while helping secure an 85-79 win.
- Coach Scheyer adjusted lineup after loss; Cayden earned role and team trust.
They’ve been on a basketball court together for so long that coming to Duke has brought a change for freshmen Cameron and Cayden Boozer.
Cameron Boozer, the nation’s leading scorer, called a beast by some opposing coaches, has gotten a lot of attention — and he has delivered. He’s a headliner, soon to follow last year’s wunderkind basketball star at Duke, Cooper Flagg, to the NBA.
For Cayden Boozer, the first 13 games of his college career have been challenging but also fulfilling in a sense, he said Wednesday after the No. 6 Blue Devils earned an 85-79 win over Georgia Tech.
Cameron Boozer has started every game. Cayden Boozer’s start against the Yellow Jackets was his first, and the 6-4 guard responded with 13 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals while getting a season-high 31:25 in playing time.
Georgia Tech coach Damon Stoudamire said he was not surprised to see Cayden Boozer in the starting lineup Wednesday.
“I told my staff they’d put Cayden in the lineup,” Stoudamire said. “I played basketball and I was watching them play and it was like ‘He needs a couple more minutes,’ and all of a sudden, he’s in the starting lineup.
“I thought he did a really good job. He’s not scared of the moment. He’ll probably get better as the year goes on. Not probably. He will get better. He’ll help that group.”
And no complaints, Cayden Boozer said.
“It’s been great and I’ve learned a lot,” he said. “You go through adversity any time you’re at a good school. I feel like going through these moments has been great for me.
“I’ve learned not to get too complacent. It’s easy to have a good game and stay on a high. Obviously you have to flush that move on to the next game, which is a big lesson I’ve learned.”
The brothers, fraternal twins, have almost always been together on the court, Cayden handling the ball at guard and Cameron often winding up with it in scoring position. They’re totally in sync with each other, feed off each other.
But the Boozers aren’t in Miami anymore, dominating games at Christopher Columbus High, becoming five-star prep recruits. Cayden Boozer has had to sit and watch more this season.
“It’s nothing unexpected when you come to a place like Duke,” Cayden Boozer said. “You have to earn everything. I feel like that’s the best part about it, you know, the fulfillment you get from earning every opportunity. It’s an amazing feeling.”
At Duke, Cayden Boozer competed with junior guard Caleb Foster through the preseason, then became one of the first players off the bench.
But after Duke’s 82-81 loss to Texas Tech on Dec. 20 in New York City, the Blue Devils had the Christmas break and time off to reconsider and revamp. Freshman Nikolas Khamenia, who has started some games, has been fighting through a sore ankle.
Monday, Scheyer told Cayden Boozer that he would start with Foster in the backcourt the ACC opener.
“It’s exciting but at the end of the day I have to do my job,” Cayden Boozer said. “Starting or not, it doesn’t really matter as long as you’re doing what the team needs you to do.
“It’s a great thing to be able to start here for the first time in front of our great fans against a good Georgia Tech team. It was a fun game to play in.”
And a stressful game. Georgia Tech, playing with poise, led 43-39 at halftime and maintained the lead into the early minutes of the second half. Duke used a zone to slow down the Yellow Jackets and throw them off rhythm, holding them to 38.5% shooting.
“We weren’t talking and gave them a lot of ‘gimme’ shots in the first half,” Cayden Boozer said. “I think we did a great job in the second half.”
With Duke leading 78-75 and Georgia Tech pressuring, Cayden Boozer knocked down a contested jumper to push the lead to five points with 1:28 to play. Soon, the game was over and the players again high-fiving students and fans as they left the court.
Cameron Boozer had 26 points and 12 rebounds, but Cayden Boozer was a big contributor to the victory, too.
“Obviously he’s a great player,” Cameron Boozer said recently of his brother. “He brings that spark, pushes the pace, makes plays.”
This story was originally published January 1, 2026 at 5:30 AM.
