Duke locks in second-straight No. 1 recruiting class

Field Level Media|published: Thu 21st November, 14:22 2024

Nov 4, 2024; Durham, North Carolina, USA; Duke Blue Devils head coach Jon Scheyer reacts at Cameron Indoor Stadium during the second half against the Maine Black Bears. Mandatory Credit: Zachary Taft-Imagn Images

With the NCAA early signing period now over, Duke has finalized its third top recruiting class in the past four years, according to 247Sports rankings.

Coach Jon Scheyer is bringing in a quartet of five-star recruits, headlined by Cameron Boozer, the No. 2 overall prospect in the 2025 class and son of Duke legend Carlos Boozer.

He is joined by No. 15 Shelton Henderson (Bellaire High in Bellaire, Texas), No. 19 Nikolas Khamenia (Harvard-Westlake High, Los Angeles) and No. 21 Cayden Boozer, Cameron's twin. The Boozers play at Columbus High School in Miami.

Cayden Boozer is a guard, and the others are forwards.

Scheyer said Thursday that this group falls in line with the way he's trying to build the program since taking over from his mentor, Mike Krzyzewski.

"Individually with each of these guys, we're thrilled to get them here, but for me, it's the makeup of the class that I'm so excited about," he said. "There's really two main things we look for in this class and ... the first thing is competitiveness. And when you think about Shelton Henderson, when you think about Cayden Boozer, when you think about Nik Khamenia, when you think about Cam Boozer, the word competitiveness comes to mind with all four of those guys. That was really important to us and how we continue to build the program. How we continue to move this thing forward is bring in high-level competitors.

"The second thing for us is feel or basketball instincts, and when combine their competitiveness and you combine their IQ and feel for the game, that's been the recipe for some of our most special teams here."

Scheyer, who became Duke's head coach ahead of the 2022-23 season, signed the top class in 2022 and 2024 and the No. 2 class in the in-between year.

The players already have achieved success in their careers.

The Boozers played on three consecutive Florida state high school champions and also won gold medals in U16 and U17 competitions with USA Basketball. Khamenia won back-to-back state titles, and he and Henderson were members of the gold-medal winning U18 team at the FIBA AmeriCup over the summer.

UConn's class is ranked No. 2, followed by Kansas, Arkansas and Kentucky.

--Field Level Media

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