We’re understandably a bit prejudiced because we live in ACC territory – in other words, America from sea to shining sea — but the conversation has changed little as the 2025-26 season unfolded.
Cameron Boozer has earned mention week in and week out as a favorite, if not the favorite, to win recognition as the national player of the year. His worthiness was emphatically reinforced in D.C. against Michigan this past weekend, against a burly and ballyhooed frontcourt for the previously top-ranked Wolverines.
There are numerous awards designating a national player of the year, from the Associated Press (AP) to the U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA), National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), and Sporting News (TSN). Generally speaking, the two most prestigious are the Wooden Award, given since 1977 by the Los Angeles Athletic Club, and the Naismith Award, an honor given by the Atlanta Tipoff Club since 1969.
Both also recognize a top female player, the Naismith since 1983 (Duke’s Lindsey Harding won in 2007) and Wooden since 2004 (Duke’s Alana Beard won in 2004).
Boozer is the betting favorite this year due to his scoring, double-doubles, complementary skills, court awareness, and remarkable consistency. Of course it helps that the 6-9 freshman plays for Duke, one of the nation’s premier programs and a regular TV attraction.
In all, should Boozer win this year’s Naismith POY award, he would be only the fifth freshman so honored, after Cooper Flagg last year, Duke’s Zion Williamson in 2019, Kentucky’s Anthony Davis in 2012, and Texas’ Kevin Durant in 2007. This is the 58th year the award has been given.
Strikingly, Flagg and Big Boozer would make just the second set of different players from the same school to win the award in consecutive seasons. The first duo, also from Duke, was Shane Battier in 2001 and Jason Williams in 2002. Otherwise, repeat winners from the same school were singular centers – UCLA’s Bill Walton, UVa’s Ralph Sampson, and Purdue’s Zach Eddy.
Should Boozer win the award in 2026, he would become the ninth Blue Devil so honored, after Danny Ferry in 1989, Christian Laettner in 1992, Elton Brand in 1999, Battier in 2001, Williams in 2002, JJ Redick in 2006, Williamson in 2019, and Flagg in 2025. No other school has produced more than four Naismith recipients.
| WELCOME REPETITION Schools With Winners of Consecutive Naismith National POY Awards |
|
| School, Year | National POY |
| UCLA, 1972 | Bill Walton |
| UCLA, 1973 | Bill Walton |
| UCLA, 1974 | Bill Walton |
| Virginia, 1982 | Ralph Sampson |
| Virginia, 1983 | Ralph Sampson |
| Duke, 2001 | Shane Battier |
| Duke, 2002 | Jason Williams |
| Purdue, 2023 | Zach Eddy |
| Purdue, 2024 | Zach Eddy |
| Duke, 2025 | Cooper Flagg |
| Duke, 2026* | Cameron Boozer |
| *Projected | |
