Duke's Cam Boozer Bests AJ Dybantsa to Win AP Men's Player of the Year Award

Duke forward and potential No. 1 pick Cam Boozer has added one more accolade to his resume ahead of the 2026 NBA draft.

Boozer was named the Associated Press men's national player of the year on Friday after receiving 59 of 61 votes for the award.

BYU's AJ Dybantsa received the other two votes for the honor, per the AP's Aaron Beard.

Boozer is projected as the No. 3 pick behind Dybantsa and Kansas' Darryn Peterson in Bleacher Report's latest 2026 mock draft.

He now joins UConn sophomore Sarah Strong as the two national AP honorees this season.

Boozer is the fifth freshman to earn the men's honor, while Strong is the fifth women's player to receive the award in her sophomore year, per the AP.

This is the second straight year in which a Duke men's player has taken home the award after Cooper Flagg took home the award in 2025.

Duke leads all college programs with a total of nine former AP men's national award winners including Zion Williamson, JJ Redick and Jason Williams.

Boozer joined that list after finishing what is projected to be his lone college season having averaged 22.5 points while leading the nation with 10.2 rebounds per game.

He shot 55.6 percent from the field and 39.1 percent from deep while also averaging 4.1 assists and 1.4 steals and playing all 38 games for Duke.

Boozer posted three consecutive NCAA Tournament double-doubles during the Blue Devils' run past the Sweet 16, then racked up 27 points in the Elite Eight before Duke suffered a buzzer-beater elimination by UConn.

Bleacher Report's Jonathan Wasserman projects that Boozer will be taken off the 2026 NBA draft board at No. 3 at the latest.

"There is still some lingering fear around his lack of quickness, vertical pop and defensive projection... but there's also a bandwagon of Boozer believers who simply buy the results, intangibles, in-game problem-solving and expanding versatility with his ball-handling and shooting," Wasserman wrote.

How high Boozer ultimately goes in the draft will hinge at least in part in how the draft lottery shakes out. Per Tankathon, the Washington Wizards, Brooklyn Nets and Indiana Pacers currently have the best odds of earning the No. 1 selection when the lottery takes place May 10.