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Cameron and Cayden Boozer may have been born fraternal twins, but they’ve spent their entire high school careers setting themselves apart, not just from each other, but from the whole class of 2025. Hailing from Miami, FL, the sons of two-time NBA All-Star Carlos Boozer have stacked up so many dubs over the past four years that they’re considered two of the most decorated hoopers that the grassroots level has ever witnessed. The résumé is as follows...
Four straight state championships at Christopher Columbus High School. Three consecutive Nike EYBL Peach Jam titles on the 15U, 16U and 17U circuits. Two gold medals — one at the 2023 FIBA Americas U16 Championship and another at the 2024 FIBA U17 World Cup. Both players are McDonald’s All-Americans and national champions. Cameron’s a two-time Gatorade National Player of the Year. Cayden’s the 2025 Chipotle Nationals All-Tournament MVP. And they’re both headed to Duke this fall to helm yet another stacked recruiting class.
Winning doesn’t get old when you do it this much. But losses are still very much a part of the journey. As juniors, Cameron (ranked No. 3 by ESPN) and Cayden (ranked No. 16 by ESPN) led the Explorers to the Chipotle Nationals semifinals, where they fell to the eventual champs, Montverde.
“That whole offseason, we were just itching to get back there. And I feel like our whole team just had that mentality from the jump,” Cayden says. “So the whole year, we were playing really tough matchups to prepare us for the moment at the end of the season where we were in the championship. Just being able to win it, it was such a surreal feeling. And that being the last high school basketball memory that I'll get to have, it's a blessing. I feel like it emphasizes what our four years of high school have been.”
The 84-70 loss in the semis last April ignited a torrent of Ws this season against the nation's top academies and high schools. The Explorers got their get back against Montverde twice and defeated eight teams ranked in the Top 25 nationally by USA Today en route to a 30-3 record.
Cameron’s presence was felt across all 33 games, pouring in 22.1 points across every inch of the hardwood. Yeah, he knows how to bully his way around in the paint. Fades, post-ups and mid-range bag work are stocked in the arsenal, for sure. But Cam’s brilliance on the interior shines in tandem with his ability to smoothly operate along the perimeter. He’ll snag a board and bound down the court before dicing up a defender or pulling up for a three with grace. And his relentless drive on the boards—11.8 per this season—is complemented by 1.9 steals and 1.5 blocks. Presence. Felt.
If Cameron was the team’s engine, Cayden was definitely the conductor. The 6-4 point guard doesn’t get rattled under pressure—he excels when along side it. Passing lanes are as wide as the eye can see with the rock in his hands, from finding slashing teammates with precision to setting up a play with the vision of a bucket being executed. Cayden reads the game like few 17-year-olds do—with an advanced expertise. And when the Explorers needed him most in a tie game during the 2025 Chipotle Nationals semifinals, he answered with a game-winning mid-range pull-up over three defenders to send them to the championship. The next day, he dropped a 27-piece to lead the school to its first national title.
Together, the twins are flat-out ridiculous. There’s an uncanny connection between the two as they glide through pick-and-roll actions and post entries. It’s the type of fluidity that has Duke fans aiming to sell out Cameron Indoor in 2025-26.
It’s the week of high school graduation in mid-May and the twins are sitting on a sofa in their childhood home in Florida, fresh off taking flicks on the bright blue concrete court in their backyard.
The full-court set-up has become a symbol for all of the hours they’ve dedicated over the years to getting better. Crisp white lines contrast with the faded gray mid-court circle that’s taken a beating from the Florida sun. That, plus the hundreds of workouts, shootarounds, 1v1s and games of H.O.R.S.E with their older brother Carmani. During quarantine, they even opened the court up to their Nightrydas AAU team for practices. “Just to make sure we were all working out and just playing the game that we love,” Cayden says.
“Sometimes we have a full group of little kids just working out in the backyard,” he continues. “We wake up one day from a nap and we see kids working out. So, I mean, we let anyone use it because it just brings the love of the game to everyone. I just think the court has had a lot of memories for a lot of people.”
The outdoor court surrounded by lush greenery was just one of numerous locations where Cameron and Cayden developed their love for the game. When the twins were born in 2007, their dad was putting up 20 and 10 with the Utah Jazz. But by the time they were attending his games, Carlos was with the Bulls facing off against the Heat in the playoffs. It was that electric postseason atmosphere inside the Heat’s arena that enthralled the twins as they watched in real time what their lives could look like if they kept basketball the main thing.
Their dad was an incredible resource. So was their mom, who started their very first team and served as head coach. But sometimes, watching—instead of asking—served up the best lessons. They witnessed their dad grind every day, not just to get better but to maintain his dominance. They saw how he and his teammates responded to the media. They learned the definition of being a good teammate and how to contribute to a winning culture. Then they determined what their best contributions would be. “Just kind of like what it takes to be an NBA player. Like, there are so many small things,” Cameron says.
As much as they learned, there was still this desire to differentiate themselves from their dad and his career. “We just wanted to make our own,” Cayden says. A persistent stream of wins throughout their four years in high school proved effective enough. Their retired numbers, 2 for Cayden and 12 for Cameron, which hang in the Explorers' home gym are a reminder of that legacy. Durham is just the next stop on that journey.
Despite playing on the same team for their entire lives, they arrived at their parents’ former stomping grounds through different paths. From the moment colleges began reaching out, Cameron and Cayden made it clear that they weren’t a package deal. Schools needed to recruit them separately. If you wanted Cameron, you were getting a 6-9 three-level scorer. If you wanted Cayden, you were getting a quintessential 6-4 floor general who surgically surveys for opportunities to get his own. Turns out Duke wanted both.
“Obviously it turned out to be that way, but it was just more that Duke was the best situation for both of us,” Cameron says. “That's kind of how it unfolded. But I think it was super important for both of us to get interest from the schools separately.”
They’ve been proactive in the meantime, connecting with fellow freshman Nikolas Khamenia and last year’s returners. The topic of conversation is one Cameron and Cayden are already well-versed in. They spent years on baby blue asphalt perfecting it.
“We’re just talking about winning. That’s the most important thing for us and our team,” Cameron says. “Obviously they came up short this year, but our goal next year is to win a national championship. I think we have the roster to do it, the talent to do it, the size to do it.”
“The main conversation with even the three freshmen that we have, me, Cam and Nik, it’s just to win,” Cayden adds. “We know what the expectation is, and we know we have the team to be able to do it. We just have to work our tails off to make sure that it happens.”
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