Cameron Boozer was born into Duke royalty.
Named for the arena in which his father once starred — Cameron Indoor Stadium — he grew up watching other Blue Devils stars such as Zion Williamson, Paolo Banchero and Jayson Tatum.
On Friday night, Boozer realized another school tradition — winning the John R. Wooden Award.
The freshman phenom became the eighth player from Duke to capture the award named for the legendary UCLA coach, joining Williamson, Cooper Flagg, JJ Redick, Jay Williams, Shane Battier, Elton Brand and Christian Laettner.
“To be able to win and be with a lot of those great Duke players,” Boozer said before the award was announced, “would be a great feeling for sure.”
There was another legacy fulfilled when UConn’s Sarah Strong won the women’s Wooden Award. That made her the fifth Huskies player to do so, joining Paige Bueckers, Tina Charles, Breanna Stewart and Maya Moore. (Stewart and Moore were each two-time winners.)
This represented a sweep of all the major awards after Boozer and Strong had previously been selected The Associated Press, Naismith and Sporting News Player of the Year winners. Boozer beat out BYU’s AJ Dybantsa, Michigan’s Yaxel Lendeborg, Purdue’s Braden Smith and Arkansas’ Darius Acuff Jr. to win the Wooden Award.
“It would be very cool,” Strong said of the prospect of a sweep before the award was announced, “and I’m very grateful for these opportunities.”
On the 50th anniversary of the Wooden Award, its first winner — UCLA’s Marques Johnson — announced Boozer as the latest winner inside the L.A. Athletic Club. It was the first time Johnson had done so since presenting the 2007 award to Kevin Durant.
The 6-foot-9 Boozer is expected to be one of the top picks in the NBA draft after averaging 22.5 points and 10.2 rebounds for the Blue Devils, who lost to UConn in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament. His father, Carlos, won the 2001 national championship while playing for Duke.
What’s been his father’s advice as his son approaches the next stage of his career?
“Just be where your feet are, enjoy the moment,” Cameron said. “Those are the biggest things.”
After helping UConn win the national title as a freshman, Strong once again dominated as a sophomore. She averaged 18.4 points, 7.7 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 3.4 steals for the Huskies, who lost to South Carolina in a national semifinal. Strong will return for at least one more season before heading to the WNBA.
UCLA center Lauren Betts, one of the other finalists alongside UConn’s Azzi Fudd, Texas’ Madison Booker and Vanderbilt’s Mikayla Blakes, was unable to attend after taking a redeye flight Thursday night to New York for the WNBA draft on Monday.
Bruins coach Cori Close told The California Post that her entire staff would attend the draft, where Betts is expected to be one of the top picks and UCLA could have a record six players taken in the first round.
Close thanked her assistant coaches, male scout team players and video team for their role in helping to make that a possibility.
“We have now developed probably one of the best player development programs in the country,” Close said, “and it could not have been done without the intentionality and incredible sacrifice of my incredible staff.”
