Duke's Cameron Boozer headlines a slate of talented freshmen to watch this season

Audio By Carbonatix

Cameron Boozer’s extraordinary potential is evident from the way Tennessee coach Rick Barnes described him before the Duke freshman forward even played a college game that counts.

“One of the best players in the country,” Barnes said after Boozer collected 24 points and 23 rebounds in No. 6 Duke’s 83-76 exhibition victory over No. 18 Tennessee on Sunday.

Boozer ranks alongside Kansas’ Darryn Peterson and BYU’s AJ Dybantsa as the best players in a freshman class that’s loaded with star power at the top. They have a chance of being the first three players taken in next year’s NBA draft.

Boozer might have the most familiar name in the group because of his family ties. Boozer and his twin brother and Duke teammate, Cayden Boozer, are sons of two-time NBA All-Star Carlos Boozer, who won a national title at Duke.

Cameron and Cayden Boozer played on four straight Florida state championship teams at Miami’s Columbus High School. Cameron Boozer, a three-time Florida Mr. Basketball, was named the Gatorade national boys basketball player of the year in 2023 and 2025. He was the nation’s No. 3 prospect in his class and Cayden was ranked 20th, according to 247Sports.

“He is a warrior, man,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said about Cameron Boozer. “I think that’s the best thing I can say about him.”

Scheyer made that comment after the 6-foot-9 forward collected 33 points and 12 rebounds in a 96-71 exhibition victory over UCF. Boozer followed that up with his big performance against Tennessee.

“He’s as good as I’ve seen in a long time up close and personal,” Barnes said after that game.

Some other freshmen who should make an immediate impact this season:

Acuff scored 17 points in each of Arkansas’ two exhibition games – an 89-61 win over Cincinnati and a 99-75 triumph over Memphis. He also averaged 5.5 assists in those two games. The 6-3 guard was ranked 11th in the 247Sports Composite and was one of five finalists for the Naismith Award given annually to the nation’s top high school player. Acuff is from Detroit but finished his high school career at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.

Ament is ranked fourth in the 247Sports Composite and is generally listed just below the trio of Dybantsa, Peterson and Boozer in terms of their potential 2026 draft position. The 6-10 forward had 19 points, 10 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game at Highland School in Warrenton, Virginia. He was named the Gatorade Virginia high school player of the year. Ament had 14 points and 10 rebounds in the exhibition loss to Duke.

Dybantsa, who is 6-9, signed with BYU as the nation’s No. 1 overall prospect according to the 247Sports Composite. He was one of five players selected to the Associated Press All-America preseason team. Dybantsa averaged 24 points in No. 8 BYU’s exhibition games with Nebraska and No. 25 North Carolina. Dybantsa grew up in Massachusetts and was named that state’s Gatorade player of the year as a freshman before transferring first to Prolific Prep in Napa, California, and eventually to Utah Prep.

Peterson won the Naismith Trophy as the national high school player of the year last season. The 6-6 guard from Canton, Ohio, is rated second in his class by the 247Sports Composite. Peterson scored 18 points in the McDonald’s All-American Game to share MVP honors with Boozer. He had 26 points in the 19th-ranked Jayhawks’ 90-82 exhibition victory over No. 11 Louisville.

Wilson had 22 points and 10 rebounds in North Carolina’s 78-76 exhibition loss to BYU. The 6-10 forward from Atlanta was named the Gatorade high school player of the year in Georgia and is ranked fifth in the 247Sports Composite. He had 21.7 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists, 3.6 blocks and 2.1 steals per game his senior year at Holy Innocents Episcopal School. He had 28 points and six rebounds in the Jordan Brand Classic.

This 6-5 wing is from the West African country of Benin but played high school basketball at St. Joseph in Santa Maria, California. He was ranked 14th in his class according to the 247Sports Composite. Yessoufou scored 21 points in Baylor’s 79-74 exhibition victory over Grand Canyon. He followed that up by collecting 12 points and nine rebounds in Baylor’s second exhibition game, a 76-74 loss to Indiana.

___

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 all season. Sign up here and here (AP mobile app). AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball