Juneau-Douglas High School star basketball player Carlos Boozer has announced he will attend Duke University next year, according to ESPN commentator Dick Vitale.
On Friday, the website ESPN.com moved a two-paragraph article it attributed to Vitale, stating "Boozer ... will make his announcement official Saturday morning in Detroit, where he will be playing in a high school all-star game."
Boozer won his second straight Alaska Player of the Year award this week and in the past month was voted to the Parade All-America first team and named a McDonald's All-American.
Last fall, the coveted recruit - chosen by many scouts as one of the top 10 prep players in the country - narrowed his list of prospective colleges down to Duke, UCLA and St. John's. Since then, there's been unending speculation about what school he would choose.
At times, the scrutiny by the nation's media was incredibly intense.
"I think more than anything, he's relieved," Crimson Bears coach George Houston said, adding, "I think there'll be a lot more Duke shirts in Juneau from now on."
Houston said he'd talked to Boozer earlier in the day, and Boozer confirmed to him that he had chosen Duke. He added that Boozer told him the news would be aired in an ESPN SportsCenter segment on Friday night.
"I don't know why it's being done that way, why he chose to tell Dick Vitale," Houston said, "but that's his decision."
Houston said he didn't get much of a chance to speak with Boozer. Boozer called him from Detroit and was getting ready to attend a banquet in association with the Magic Roundball Charity Classic which he is competing in on Saturday.
"He didn't really mention to me about the reasons why," he decided on Duke, Houston said. "We had talked about it; he knew that it (Duke) was my preference. Academically, all three of the schools would have been good choices, but you have that experience with Coach K (Mike Krzysewski). He's been there for 19 years and has been ultra successful. Talk basketball with any coach and they talk Duke.
"You can't go wrong. And he fits in well with that environment, just the way they play, very team-oriented. I just think for a lot of reasons, the school, the coaching, the environment, it's the best situation for him."
Houston said, until Friday afternoon, he didn't know which college Boozer had chosen.
"I don't know when he came to his decision," Houston said. "I'm sure he had some thoughts along the way, just sat down with his parents and came to a conclusion."
Nobody in the Boozer family was available for comment - they're all in Detroit to be with Carlos when he goes public with his announcement. Houston said that tight-knit family is one of the reasons Krzysewski pursued Boozer, where the opposite is more common for most players.
"That's one of things that sold Coach K on Carlos," Houston said. "He saw the strong family ties; you have that on a team very much, and he (Krzysewski) is very perceptive that way."
In Duke - located in Durham, North Carolina, one of the few places as basketball crazy as Juneau - Boozer will be joining one of the most successful college basketball programs in the country, headed up by one of the most respected coaches in the nation.
Krzyzewski, the winningest coach in Duke history, is praised by current and former players for being as much a mentor as a coach. Since taking over the Blue Devils' helm in 1981, Krzyzewski has compiled a sparkling 437-151 record which includes eight Final Four appearances and the only back-to-back NCAA national championships (1991 and `92) in the past quarter century.
Boozer follows another Alaska great, former East Anchorage player Trajan Langdon, to Duke. Langdon, a three-time all-Atlantic Coast Conference player, just completed his final season with the Blue Devils. Though heavily-favored Duke finished a disappointing runner-up in this year's NCAA tournament to the University of Connecticut, it's returning talent and blue-chip incoming recruits make it a favorite to compete for a title again next year.
Not that that's the only objective, Houston said.
"His growth process will continue there, that's the main thing," Houston said.
