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17 hours ago
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Cameron Boozer may be heading to the NBA, which would make him unable to follow his father Carlos' specific footsteps at Duke.
Cayden Boozer, though, seems likely to stay with the Blue Devils. He and the rest of his teammates can take inspiration from the end of their father's freshman season.
On March 24, 2000, Duke lost in the Sweet 16 to Florida, 87-78. It wasn't the dramatic ending that this season's Blue Devils faced, but it was still an end for a 1-seed Duke -- in that case, to a 5-seed.
A Duke team with Shane Battier, Jay Williams, Mike Dunleavy Jr. and Boozer got upset, and it could've broken them up.
Instead, it brought them together.
The following season, the Blue Devils won the national title.
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Carlos Boozer didn't immediately crush it at the college level. He was a top-10 recruit in the country, but as a freshman he mostly allowed his talented teammates to take games over.
The frosh Carlos simply made the shots he got, shooting 61.4% from the field in that freshman year. He averaged 13.0 points and 6.3 rebounds per game.
The next year, he put up 13.3 points, 6.5 rebounds and about a block and steal per game for the national champs.
And as a junior, Carlos went for 18.2 points and 8.7 rebounds per game before leaving for the NBA.
The point here is that even teams with the biggest expectations don't always win in March. That's why they call it madness.
But the best teams don't let a loss one season define them. They come back and finish the job the following year.
That's Duke's task here, even if their roster looks rather different next season. They'll likely still have a Boozer, and they'll have a precedent to follow.
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