‘Chip on our shoulder’: Duke’s 2025-26 men’s basketball squad is learning to shake off the shadows
Less than a minute remained on the clock as Carlos Boozer grabbed the final rebound of the 2001 NCAA Tournament. He and his teammates dribbled out the game to secure a 82-72 victory over Arizona, clinching Duke’s third national championship title and a coveted banner in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Two and a half decades later, Boozer watched his son rise up beneath the very same banner, slamming a dunk through contact to score the first unofficial points of Duke’s 2025-26 season. The Cameron Crazies roared to their feet, elated to watch another legacy cement his Blue Devil promise.
But after swishing his and-one, Cameron Boozer simply sprinted back down the court, already searching for other ways to light up the scoreboard.
“I know he’s thinking about all the things he could have done better,” head coach Jon Scheyer said after the game. “That’s what makes him who he is.”
If the Brotherhood creates stars, it also casts long shadows.
Shadows of the past
When Scheyer settled into his chair for the first press conference of the 2025-26 season, it took just nine minutes for the inevitable question to barrel his way.
‘What’s your message to fans that want to see you back on that mountaintop, especially considering how last year ended?’
Duke’s head coach paused, if only briefly.
“I think they’ve seen that we’re right there. Two of the last four years, we’ve been really close, and it’s a small margin of error,” Scheyer said. “If you keep putting yourself in that position of being in that moment, being right there, it’s a matter of time before you break through, and I feel that’s where our program is.”
College basketball fans love nothing more than comparison. Though Scheyer starts each season with a brand new iteration of Blue Devils, the Duke faithful will never stop measuring them against one another.
“It’s either glory or it’s heartbreak. To me, there’s no in between,” Scheyer said. “Unfortunately for us, last year was heartbreak. Most years, it’s heartbreak.”
Last season’s Blue Devils topped the charts in nearly every statistical category, losing only two of the 26 games they played after the new year. The team advanced to a Final Four before bidding farewell to five stars in the 2025 NBA Draft. Duke’s 2025-26 season begins in the shadow of that brush with glory, and some veterans wish the ghosts of the past would leave their new contingent alone.
“It’s just a whole different team, different play style. We can learn some stuff, but we just got to create our own identity,” guard Caleb Foster said Sept. 24. “We’re not really looking at the two last years on our journey.”
Others find motivation in the unfulfilled promise.
“We still have a chip on our shoulder, from how it ended last year, just the guys that returned,” senior Maliq Brown said. “We’re all competitors, so just knowing how we left off last year … We’re going to lock in.”
For Duke’s freshmen, who join the 2025-26 team in the footsteps of three All-ACC Rookies, the benchmarks only pile up from there.
Shadows of family
Two of the newest Blue Devils grew up not only with the blood of The Brotherhood in their veins, but a built-in role model on the basketball court. Cameron and Cayden Boozer watched their father achieve success in the NBA, then ran backyard drills on a bright blue concrete surface in hopes of someday following in his footsteps.
Together, the fraternal twins earned three straight Nike EYBL Peach Jam titles, four consecutive high school state championships, two FIBA gold medals and McDonald All-American honors. The hype around “The Boozers” grew louder with every accomplishment — until Cameron and Cayden entered the college recruitment process separately.
The two-time Gatorade National Player of the Year and the 2025 Chipotle Nationals All-Tournament MVP still both ended up in Duke blue.
Not because of their dad, they insist. And not because of each other.
“Me and Cameron never really talked about going to school together until, like, a week before we committed,” Cayden said Sept. 24. “Then we realized we both wanted to come here, and win a national championship here, and just have at least one or two years together, because it’s the only time we’re really gonna be able to choose to play with each other.”
They succeed their father — whose 0.627 field goal percentage at Duke still ranks third all-time — but have different impacts on the court. Cameron takes formidable command of his own shotmaking, crashing the glass at every opportunity. Cayden fills the point guard role with dynamic reads and an impeccable eye for open passing lanes.
They shrug off comparisons to The Brotherhood’s original Boozer, despite shadows of similarity. His memories of Duke basketball take on a different gloss.
“The stories my dad told me were just about how [Mike Krzyzewski] used to get on him and make sure that he was the best player he could possibly be,” Cayden said. “But, I mean, I feel like those are kind of the same, because Coach Scheyer is always on us and wants us to be the best we can possibly be.”
The twins look to outpace their national-championship-winning father, but they must also reckon with a mirror image on the court. No. 2 and No. 12 have pushed each other since they were old enough to make a free throw.
“Being able to play with my brothers helped me a lot playing basketball, just having something you can always trust on the court,” Cayden said. “You know where they want the ball, and it makes the game a lot easier when I play with them.”
Their bond, perhaps more importantly, sparked an insatiable competitive fire.
“First and foremost, I’m a winner,” Cameron said with a sly smile. “I feel like that’s why you recruit me, to come here and win. That’s what me and my brother have done our whole high school career.”
Shadows of self
Duke’s veterans find shadows in themselves. Look no further than Foster, who has dedicated the past two offseasons to attacking his weaknesses. After fracturing his ankle as a freshman, the junior point guard never quite rebounded. Pressure lingered.
“They make it easy for you to run away, because you can just go to the next place,” associate head coach Chris Carrawell said Sept. 24. “For him to stick it through says a lot about his character. He’s an old-school guy, takes the old-school approach. Just doesn’t run.”
Foster, Patrick Ngongba II and Isaiah Evans worked swimming into their workout plans to improve cardio. Foster improved his voice on the court while hosting The Brotherhood Podcast. Even when the opportunity to transfer presented itself, he stayed focused on the Blue Devils.
“I had to self-reflect, look myself in the mirror,” Foster said. “A lot of things were in my control that I thought I could get better at, and obviously just got to keep fighting. That’s what makes good Duke players: people who fight with resilience.”
His contributions never piled up on the stat sheet, but those around the team spoke to his improvement.
“He can score and impact with the ball, but the areas without the ball are where I’ve seen a ton of growth,” Scheyer said. “That shows maturity, and it shows how coachable he is and how badly he wants to win a national championship.”
Evans was another player who had the opportunity to leave after the heartbreak in March. Rather than declare for the NBA draft or abandon ship for N.C. State — as many rumored he might do — the fiery sharpshooter returned to Cameron Indoor for his sophomore season.
He had increased his production and minutes in the final month of the regular season before hitting a wall in the NCAA Tournament. Now, as a team veteran and likely starter, he itches to find the net again.
“I can’t wait to just start playing,” Evans said Sept. 24. “I’ve just been waiting all summer. Now, the days are finally ticking down, and it’s going to be a reality soon.”
For Brown, who transferred to Duke last season only to battle a jumble of injuries, an appearance on the court will have to wait a little longer. The 2024-25 campaign saw the defensive standout sidelined twice with a dislocated shoulder and various toe and ankle issues. Though Brown rehabbed them all, he underwent a precautionary knee scope in the offseason and will miss the first few games of the year.
“It’s definitely been difficult,” Brown said. “I was just watching my brothers play … [and] I wasn’t able to get on the court and run with them. Seeing them fight through conditioning and the different drills and competition games was definitely something that was bothering me.”
Duke’s senior big man faces high expectations of his own when he returns to the floor. The player Scheyer once described as a “defensive menace” will once again take over as the backbone of a team known for stifling frontcourt disruptions. Matching or exceeding production will be key to maintaining that legacy, but he isn’t the only one with a bar to raise.
Shadows of the future
Come March, Duke men’s basketball will have gone a decade without a national championship — the longest drought since the program won its initial title. Forty years will have passed since Krzyzewski made his first Final Four. The five banners hanging inside Cameron Indoor Stadium will once again beckon for an addition.
Scheyer won’t rest until he hangs one.
“He’s adapting,” Foster said at ACC Tipoff. “I just see how much he dedicates to the craft, and how much time it takes for him to get ready and prepare for us and different game plans, different schemes, offensively and defensively … and I really admire that.”
For all the lessons that linger in the past, it’s the unsolvable equation of the future that keeps Scheyer up at night. He assembled a gauntlet of a nonconference schedule and invested heavily in player development while searching for the keys to unlock the next level.
“There’s no limit on what we can do. I think it’s a matter of just putting it all together,” Scheyer said. “I think it’s about this year, what we’re doing and how to be the best version of maxing this team out.”
Fans have a high floor of expectations, as do the recruits and the veterans. Scheyer has noticed. The young Blue Devils came in fighting to establish their place on the court. The older players set a tone for the season. They practice each day with an endgame of winning the endgame.
“I’ve seen great hunger, which is what gives me great confidence for this team,” Scheyer said at ACC Tipoff.
At the first press conference of the year, the players mentioned a national title four times. Even slow starts in two exhibition games couldn’t waver their confidence — against Tennessee, Cameron Boozer turned in a 24-point, 23-rebound performance while Evans and Ngongba both put up career-high point totals. The team wants to keep climbing.
“I think the goal every time, anytime you’re at Duke, is to win a national championship. And our team isn’t going to settle for anything less,” Cayden Boozer said.
