Duke-bound power forward from FAB 50 national champ Columbus (Fla.) makes history in being named 2025 Mr. Basketball USA by Ballislife.com. Cameron Boozer concludes a spectacular career with a memorable senior season that ends with the Explorers finishing No. 1 in the FAB 50 National Team Rankings. Also the 2023 Mr. Basketball USA choice, Boozer is the first two-time Mr. Basketball USA honoree since LeBron James in 2002 and 2003. Boozer is joined by four other national player of the year candidates on all 10 ballots in the final Mr. Basketball USA Tracker balloting. The first Mr. Basketball USA Tracker was conducted in 2008, the first real time choice came in 1996 and our retroactive picks date back to 1955.
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A Duke-bound forward who led his team to the FAB 50 national title has earned the nation’s most prestigious individual honor. If someone said that player was Cooper Flagg they would be correct. In 2024 as a senior at Montverde Academy (Fla.), Flagg was named Mr. Basketball USA and this year as a collegiate freshman at Duke was named NCAA Player of the Year. He’s on the fast track to becoming the No. 1 pick of the 2025 NBA Draft.
Once again the nation’s top high school player is headed to Duke and although there is no guarantee he’ll have the college success of Flagg, he’s had a high school career that has been matched by only a few of the game’s all-time greats. That player is Cameron Boozer of Columbus (Miami, Fla.) and today is honored with the title of 2024-25 Mr. Basketball USA.
Today’s announcement means Boozer makes history in more ways than one. He is the only honoree dating back to 1955 to attend a Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) program and is only the second ever two-time Mr. Basketball USA honoree in real time. The other is LeBron James when he dominating the action at St. Vincent-St. Mary (Akron, Ohio) in 2002 and 2003. Retroactively, all-time high school greats Lew Alcindor of Power Memorial (N.Y.) and Jerry Lucas of Middletown (Ohio) were also twice named the nation’s top high school player back when (along with Wilt Chamberlain before them) they emerged as first true “rockstars” of high school basketball. That trio of big men were known nationally for their youth and prep exploits and expected to be collegiate and professionals stars while still in high school.
“Yeah, it’s crazy,” Boozer told Ballislife. “Honestly, it’s been a crazy journey and I’m super thankful for it all! To be categorized with such a small group of guys who have won the award twice is an amazing feeling and hopefully I can do more winning at the next level and the one after that.”
The Mr. Basketball USA Panel to determine the national player of the year was formed for the 2007-08 season. Prior to that season, the criteria used to determine the honoree was the same (individual accolades, team success, college and pro potential, etc.) and there is little doubt James would have topped the ballot of the 10-man panel of national scouts if conducted in the same manner. While there is no guarantees for Boozer’s future success based on his historic high school resume, one esteemed member of Ballislife’s 10-man panel gave a clue to how highly-regarded a majority of the voters hold Boozer’s talents.
“Cameron Boozer built a high school, Nike EYBL, camp, USA Basketball resume over four years that few – if any – have equaled, or are likely to ever approach,” said panel member and U.S. Basketball Writers Association Hall of Famer Frank Burlison. “I wouldn’t bet against he and his brother (Cayden Boozer) winning a national title at Duke a year from now before they head into the NBA for the 2026-27 season.”
This season, 24 candidates received recognition for the production-based national player of the year honor, compared to the 31 when Flagg was the pick last season. Boozer was one of four candidates to appear on all ten ballots and quite frankly it was expected to be a three-horse race with Boozer, Darryn Peterson of FAB 50 No. 3 Prolific Prep (Napa, Calif.) and A.J. Dybansta of FAB 50 No. 23 Utah Prep (Hurricane, Utah).
Many fans, and experienced talent scouts alike, expected the final tracker voting to yield a photo finish, but surprisingly that didn’t happen. The panel rewarded Boozer for leading a team with tremendous expectations (Columbus started out preseason No. 1 in the FAB 50), for meeting those expectations (Columbus finished No. 1 and was the first non academy-type program to win Chipotle Nationals) and doing so while being individually dominant. For the season, the power forward with excellent range and passing ability averaged 22.1 ppg, 11.8 rpg, and 3.2 apg for a 30-3 club that beat 20 teams that were FAB 50 ranked at some point during the season.
Boozer earned eight first-place votes worth 10 points each, one second-place vote (worth nine points) and one third-place vote (worth eight points) to finish with 97 points. Peterson, whose team beat Columbus in the Explorers’ first game of the season, finished second with 90 points. The shooting guard headed to Kansas had one first-place vote, six second-place votes, two third- place votes and one fourth-place vote (seven points). Dybansta, a jumbo sized wing headed for BYU who some feel has a terrific chance to emerge as the top pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, earned one first-place vote, two second-place votes, five third-place votes, one fourth-place vote and one sixth-place vote (five points) good for 80 overall points. The only other candidate to appear on all ten ballots was Tennessee bound Nate Ament of FAB 50 No. 19 Highland (Warrenton, Va.). The 6-foot-10 wing is considered a terrific long-term prospect and he finished in fourth place with 51 points, including three fourth-place votes.
The panel likely factored in career success and being consistently great is where Boozer stands out over any candidate of recent memory.
In all four on his seasons, the Explorers captured a FHSAA Class 7A state title. The Boozers (Cayden will join Cam at Duke) not only led the program to four consecutive Class 7A state crowns, but to a 117-16 four-year record against plenty of national competition and to a FAB 50 title this season.
“It was a three-man race from minute one this season; once Peterson integrated himself with his great play early in the season,” said panel member Van Coleman. “It came down to a great season, and the greatest career of recent times, and the first to ever to win this award as a sophomore.
(Dybansta) should have had the inside track, but it didn’t quite work out with the team. When you look at the all-star games, the most consistent performer in the all-star games was him (Boozer). This kid, I remember before his sophomore year, came to NBPA Top 100 camp, and he was a top 3-4 player in the camp. It was a major surprise how good he was. It’s been a career long thing with him. I think Cam earned it. I think it was the reason why at the end, the gap was a bit wider because the career turned out as expected. When his team needed the wins, he was the guy left standing.”
Consistency obviously matters and talent alone was not enough alone to separate a trio of candidates such as Boozer, Dybansta and Peterson. Boozer is the first player to earn class player of the year honors in each of his freshman, sophomore, junior and senior season since O.J. Mayo of Huntington (W. Va.) between 2004-2007.
Keep in mind, it took a talent of Flagg’s caliber on an all-time high school team to keep Boozer from earning Mr. Basketball USA honors for un unprecedented three consecutive seasons. After becoming the first sophomore ever to earn the honor in 2022-23, Cam Boozer finished in third place in last year’s balloting with 78 points while being one of the four (along with second place finisher Dylan Harper and Dybansta) to appear on all ten ballots.
I’m appreciative of it all and there have been a lot of guys who have helped me over the years and I wouldn’t be here without everyone in my corner,” Boozer said. “So, super thankful for the journey I’ve been on and ready for what’s to come in the future.”
Cam Boozer’s high school success is unlike anything we’ve seen in recent times and he was rewarded for it. Something tells us his work ethic, talent and consistency will pay off for years to come.
Editor’s Note: Click on the “+” sign next to each player’s number to view how many first, second, third or fourth place votes he got and his overall point total. Previous tracker results are also listed (“Prev.”).
RankPrev. NameHigh School1st2nd3rd4thTotal
12Cam Boozer (10)Columbus (FL)811097
23Darryn Peterson (10)Prolific Prep (CA)162190
31A.J. Dybansta (10)Utah Prep (UT)125180
47TNate Ament (10)Highland (VA)000351
57TBrayden Burries (8)Roosevelt (CA)011050
69Koa Peat (7)Perry (AZ)000132
715TTounde Yessoufou (6)St. Joseph (CA)000128
812TDarius Acuff (7)IMG Academy (FL)001025
95Chris Cenac (6)Link Academy (MO)000019
106Caleb Wilson (5)Holy Innocents (GA)000015
1118TMikel Brown Jr. (4) DME Academy (FL)000013
1212TCayden Boozer (3) Columbus (FL)00008
13T4Brandon McCoy Jr. St. John Bosco (CA)00017
13T11Maleek Thomas OTE (GA)00017
15T18TMalachi Moreno (2)Great Crossing (KY)00006
15T15TTyran Stokes (1)Notre Dame (CA)00006
15TNRJaden Toombs (2)Dynamic Prep (TX)00006
18T15TNik Khamenia (1)Harvard-Westlake (CA)00003
18TNRC.J. Rosser (1)Northern Nash (NC)00003
20T12TKingston Flemmings (1)Brennan (TX)00002
20TNRBraylon Mullins (1)Greenfield-Central (IN)00001
22T20TChristian Collins (1)St. John Bosco (CA)00001
22TNRJaxon Richardson (1)Columbus (FL)00001
22TNRJordan Smith Jr. Paul VI (VA)00001
2024-25 Mr. Basketball USA Tracker Panel
Paul Biancardi, ESPN National Director of Basketball RecruitingFrank Burlison, BurlisonOnBasketball.com PublisherVan Coleman, Nothing But Net MagazineJordan Divens, Maxpreps.com National Basketball EditorRonnie Flores, Ballislife.com National Grassroots EditorChris Lawlor, Blue Star Media National AnalystHorace Neysmith, AllMetroHoops.comPatrick Stanwood, Patrick Stanwood BasketballDinos Trigonis, Fullcourt Press Editor & PublisherAni Umana, 5StateHoopReport.com
About Basketball USA Tracker PanelBallislife.com’s panel of 10 experts, which includes six McDonald’s All-American selection committee members, casts its vote for the top national player of the year candidates. Each panelist lists his top seven candidates regardless of class. The votes are then tabulated on a 10-point scoring system with a first-place vote equaling 10 points, a second-place vote earning nine points and down to four points for a seventh-place vote. The number in parenthesis refers to the numbers of ballots on which a player appeared and previous rankings refers to position in the previous tracker.
For the all-time list of Mr. Basketball USA honorees, CLICK HERE.
Ronnie Flores is the national Grassroots editor of Ballislife.com. He can be reached at [email protected]. Don’t forget to follow him on Twitter: @RonMFlores
