Durham, NC — cameroon And caden boozer He had already gotten a taste of playing for Duke on its famously rowdy campus arena at exhibitions and fan events.
On Saturday, the twin brothers – widely considered among the nation’s top freshmen coming into the college ranks – got off to a strong start in their first official game at Cameron Indoor Stadium, as the sixth-ranked Blue Devils defeated Western Carolina. 95-54,
Coach John Scheyer said of the sons of former Duke and NBA player Carlos Boozer, “I just like the fact that they’re both incredibly impressive, but they’re also on their journey to becoming really good players and really helping us.”
The 6-foot-9, 250-pound Cameron had 25 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists and one block in 23 minutes of work. 6-4 guard Kayden had 14 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists in 26 minutes as the preseason Atlantic Coast Conference favorites upset a team picked to finish seventh in the Southern Conference.
The McDonald’s All Americans combined to win big with four state championships at Christopher Columbus High in Miami and a national title at last year’s Chipotle Nationals. cameron arrived in durham Ranked as ESPN’s No. 3 Nationally recruited and viewed as a high-end NBA prospect, Kayden was ranked 16th overall.
They are now part of Duke’s latest top-ranked recruiting class, with Cameron at interior tackle and Kayden at tackle in the backcourt.
He experienced some of Cameron’s buzz twice, the first time at the annual “Countdown to Craziness” event, which serves as a formal kickoff to the season and also included an intrasquad scrimmage. They also played an exhibition home game against a UCF program coached by former Duke great Johnny Dawkins, in which Cameron had 33 points and 12 rebounds, while Kayden had nine points and five assists.
Did Saturday feel different?
“Definitely, a little different,” Cameron said. “However, I would say that ‘Countdown’ was definitely special. The first time was playing in Cameroon with the fans there, the atmosphere there, the introductions and everything. It was great. ‘Countdown’ really felt like being in Cameroon for the first time.”
Duke also won an exhibition game at No. 18 Tennessee, then won its first match against Texas in Charlotte in the first Dick Vitale Invitational.
“Obviously it’s more important because it’s the regular season,” Kayden said about playing his first regular season game at Cameron Indoor Stadium. “But those exhibition games really help. Playing against really good players in college…really good teams. I think all those games prepared us for today, and for Texas that we played on Tuesday.”
