Jay Williams compares Cameron Boozer to Tim Duncan, puts him in conversation as most skilled Duke big man ever

Jay Williams had a lofy comparison for Duke big man Cameron Boozer. Speaking on ESPN’s College GameDay, the analyst declared that Boozer has a chance to be the “most skilled” post player in Blue Devils history and compared him to not one, but two NBA players.

Williams said that Boozer reminded him of a mix between Tim Duncan and Al Horford, drawing some stunned looks from the rest of the crew. But he did his best to explain how he landed on those players.

“I frankly think that he might be the most skilled big man that Duke has had, maybe ever,” Williams said. “You go back to Jahlil Okafor, Elton Brand, Sheldon Williams I know was the National Player of the Year, but he was more of a defensive player. It’s almost as if Cameron Boozer is Al Horford and a little bit of Tim Duncan. He can get of the dribble, he can shoot from the outside. He’s leading Duke in five statistical categories.

“I’m not saying he’s gonna reach the ceiling of Tim Duncan or Al Horford. I just think his attributes and the way he can play inside and out, how he can be involved in dribble hand offs — he leads his team in assists per game, leads his team in rebounds per game, points per game, blocks per game. He just does everything for them. It’s untraditional for Duke because they’re playing inside-out. I know they play five out but they play through him on the block.”

That’s some mighty high praise considering that Boozer is only four games into his college basketball career. He looked great so far though, averaging 22.5 points, 10.3 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 1.8 blocks and 1.8 steals per game. That included a season-high 35 points in a recent performance against Indiana State on Friday.

Boozer is the son of former NBA star Carlos Boozer, who also played his college years at Duke. Cameron Boozer played high school basketball at Columbus in Miami, where he was a five-star prospect He ranked as the No. 3 overall player and No. 1 power forward in the 2025 cycle according to the Rivals Industry Ranking, an equally weighted average that utilizes all three major recruiting services.

The 6-foot-9 power forward will get the chance to live up to that hype when Duke takes on No. 24 Kansas later Tuesday evening. Tip-off for that contest is set for 9 p.m. ET and will be televised on ESPN.