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Duke guard Cayden Boozer is returning for his sophomore season, the school revealed Thursday with a social media post. Industry sources tell CBS Sports a transfer had been on the table for Cayden, who is the twin brother of soon-to-be-NBA-bound Cameron Boozer. 

Boozer, a former four-star recruit in the 2025 recruiting cycle by 247Sports, had an up-and-down freshman season at Duke, but he found a larger role toward the end of the season — specifically, when starting guard Caleb Foster went down with an ankle injury. Boozer ended up starting in all three ACC Tournament games and four NCAA Tournament games.

This season could be viewed as unfamiliar territory for Cayden. This will be the first time he plays without his brother, as Cameron is projected as a top-three pick in the 2026 NBA Draft.

Had Cayden Boozer entered the transfer portal in search of a fresh start and guaranteed playing time as the lead guard, Miami would have been a popular projected landing spot for a number of reasons: The twins hail from Miami, and Hurricanes coach Jai Lucas is a former Duke assistant who recruited the Boozers to Duke. But on Wednesday, Miami landed a big-time portal commitment from combo guard Acaden Lewis (Villanova), which may have closed the door on any intent Cayden Boozer had of transferring to Miami. 

Duke’s season came to an end against UConn in the Elite Eight after the Blue Devils blew a 19-point advantage. On Duke’s penultimate offensive possession, Boozer caught the ball close to the half-court line and attempted to throw a one-handed pass over the top of two UConn defenders. That pass was tipped, which led to UConn freshman Braylon Mullins hitting one of the most iconic shots in NCAA Tournament history moments later.

During his freshman season at Duke, Boozer started 11 games and averaged 22.8 minutes. He finished the season averaging 7.7 points, 3.0 assists and 2.3 rebounds while shooting 50% from the floor. Boozer was viewed as a crucial stay-or-go decision for Duke coach Jon Scheyer alongside Caleb Foster, Isaiah Evans and Patrick Ngongba II. Five-star point guard Deron Rippey Jr. is also in the fold, which gives Scheyer flexibility at guard and perhaps makes Foster the odd man out. 

What’s next for Duke?

Duke hasn’t added a player in the transfer portal … yet. The stay-or-go decisions for Boozer, Foster, Evans, Ngongba and Dame Sarr will be the next steps in determining what Duke actually needs to build out its roster. Bringing back Boozer is equivalent to landing a star transfer guard, as Boozer would’ve been one of the best players at the position available if he had indeed gone portaling.

While Boozer is one of the most important retentions for Scheyer this offseason, the biggest might be star guard Isaiah Evans. In our just in CBS Sports NBA mock draft, Evans was mocked No. 24 to the Philadelphia 76ers. Evans has a very interesting decision to make because, as a projected late first-round pick, he has a chance to raise his stock in a much weaker 2027 draft class.

Evans could be a potential lottery candidate next year with another strong season at Duke. He went from strictly a catch-and-shoot 3-point specialist to Duke’s No. 2 scoring option this season. The same could be reported about Boozer. He would’ve likely been a Day 2 pick this season, but if he has a strong sophomore campaign, hearing his name called in the first round next summer isn’t out of the realm of possibilities.

Duke still has work to do to build a roster capable of another deep NCAA Tournament run. The difference is that Duke will be doing so without a generational college talent, as the program had in Cooper Flagg or Cameron Boozer over the last two seasons.