As we speak, Nike’s Peach Jam is going on in Augusta, Georgia.
For those of you who might not know, the Peach Jam is one of the biggest events on the high school recruiting calendar–a convergence of the best teams on the Nike grassroots circuit. This is a great opportunity for players to showcase their abilities against some of the best competition they will see all year, and a chance for coaches to be visual and put the full court press on the recruits they are hoping to land.
It’s also an opportunity for people to talk, and for word about various recruitments to spread.
One of the biggest names at Peach Jam is Cameron Boozer, a dominant 6’9” power forward who is currently the number two player in the class of 2025. His team, Nightrydas Elite, is one of the top teams on the circuit with coaches packed wall to wall for every game they play. As the number two player in the class, his recruitment has always been a high-profile one with the top blue bloods in the nation all vying for his services.
And the word around Peach Jam is that the Gators are right near the top in that recruitment.
Florida’s staff under Todd Golden has been after Boozer since they were able to contact ‘25 recruits, but it was always going to be a difficult challenge. Boozer is attending Miami’s Columbus High School as well as playing for Nightrydas Elite who is based in Miami, so the Gators have been relatively close by for a number of his events around the country. As the recruitment goes on different programs are said to have dropped out, and right now the same three programs are said to be right in the mix.
Florida, Duke, and Miami.
If you don’t know, Cameron’s father is Carlos Boozer–a former star at Duke. For that reason many people assumed that Cameron would end up being a Blue Devil early in the recruitment, but since then it’s been said that the legacy play won’t have much to do with what Boozer is thinking when it comes to picking his next spot. Miami would be his hometown school, while the Gators are a team looking to offer a style of play and an immediate role for him to start.
This is great news for the Gators who continue to get good news about the recruitment. It’s not easy to stay involved with some of the top players in a class, particularly one with the perceived strength of 2025 which is thought to be one of the strongest high school classes in a number of years.
An added element of the Boozer recruitment is that Cameron isn’t the only elite Boozer–his brother, Cayden, is currently ranked 19th in the class as well. Now, some recruiting experts might suggest that he wouldn’t quite be ranked that high if not for the name–but it’s still clear that Cayden is a very good player and one that would be an excellent get for any high-major program. In interviews the Boozer twins have suggested that their recruitments are separate and the two look for different programs to attend, but word coming from those close to the recruitment suggest that this would be a package deal situation and whoever gets Cameron will also get Cayden.
Most programs would welcome the addition of Cayden alongside Cameron. Cameron is a physically dominant 6’9” power forward who can handle the ball and be a primary initiator out of the high post while also dominating the glass and pushing in transition. Cayden, on the other hand, is a 6’4” point guard who loves to pass the basketball. When you watch a Columbus High, Nightrydas, or USA U17 team (three separate teams that the twins have played on recently), you’ll usually see Cameron end the game with a 28 point, 12 rebound double double where he took 15 shots, while Cayden will finish the game with 7 points and 6 rebounds, going something like 3-5 from the field. Cayden’s pass-first mindset has always been perfect alongside the score-first mentality of Cameron, and it stands to reason that Florida would happily take the package deal.
Nowadays these levels of recruitment result in decisions later than they have historically and there is no timetable for the Boozer’s to announce their attention, but there is a chance they make their decision in the fall in order to fully enjoy their final high school season and prepare for the next level. While you can’t call the Gators the “favorite” in this scenario they are right in the mix and the Boozers are players to keep a close eye on when it comes to Florida’s high school recruiting.