Fishers, Ind. — Cayden Boozer can vividly remember the carefree days growing up in the gym dominating imaginary defenders with his twin brother Cameron.
The pair would count the seconds down aloud before sinking a jump shot to lift their dad Carlos Boozer’s alma mater Duke Blue Devils to a national title.
Kelis Fisher could relate to the preteen gym daydreams, but on Saturday, the trio made the transition from fantasy to reality after capturing the Chipotle Nationals title in front of an impressive contingent of former pros turned basketball dads.
Former NBA star Jermaine O’Neal is the head coach at Dynamic Prep (Texas). Another former NBA star Jason Richardson’s son Jaxon plays for Columbus High School (Florida) and former NFL star Marcus Spears’ son Marcus Jr. suits up for Dynamic Prep.
Cameron and Cayden combined to post 38 points, 10 rebounds and five assists to lead Columbus past Dynamic Prep 67-49 in the men’s championship.
5⭐️ Cayden Boozer activated takeover mode to lead Columbus to the Chipotle Nationals title win 🔥 #ChipotleNationals
The Future Duke Blue Devil posted 27 PTS | 2 REB | 2 AST ✅ pic.twitter.com/8LYr09yBSn
— SportsCenter NEXT (@SCNext) April 5, 2025
Fisher scored 23 points and handed out five assists to help IMG Academy (Florida) knockoff Montverde Academy (Florida) 80-78 in overtime for the women’s championship.
UConn commit 5⭐️ Kelis Fisher (no. 27 espnW 100) spearheaded IMG Academy’s win over Montverde to capture IMG’s first girls basketball Nationals win in school history 🔥
23 PTS | 5 AST
IMG Academy: 80
Montverde Academy: 78@FisherKelis | @IMGABasketball pic.twitter.com/j2MZfOkWdE— SportsCenter NEXT (@SCNext) April 5, 2025
All three believe their good fortune will rub off on their future college teams this weekend.
Cameron and Cayden are signed to Duke, who tips off against Houston in the men’s Final Four tonight, and Fisher is signed to the UConn Huskies, who will face the South Carolina Gamecocks in the women’s national title game on Sunday.
“It’s pretty crazy that we won the national title in the same weekend as Duke is in the Final Four,” Cayden said. “It’s like a dream come true. We got it done, but it wasn’t easy.”
That’s putting it mildly.
Cayden arrived at Saturday’s title game in dramatic fashion, fielding an inbounds pass then darting down the floor and draining a free-throw line fadeaway to lift Columbus past Brewster Academy (New Hampshire) in the semifinals on Friday.
Fisher’s path was almost identical, drawing the defense then kicking it out to a teammate who drained a 3-pointer from the left wing to sink Westtown School (Pennsylvania) in the semifinals.
“I wouldn’t change anything,” Fisher said. “I was confident all weekend, just like I’m confident about my Huskies.”
Fisher watched half of the Huskies 85-51 dismantling of UCLA on Friday night before resting up for her game but doesn’t plan to miss a second of the national title game on Sunday.
“We just won and my team’s gonna win; that’s how it’s gonna be,” Fisher said confidently. “Their threes and attacking the basket, that’s gonna be on. They’re gonna go through adversity, but they’re gonna fight and it’s gonna be good.”
Cameron and Cayden think Duke’s size and ability to dominate the game on both ends will ultimately lead the Blue Devils to the winner’s circle.
“We’ve got great positional size, and there’s sometimes we watch and other teams are not getting any clean looks, no paint touches and offensively we share the ball so well,” Cameron said. “It’s just beautiful basketball.”
Cayden ran a picturesque offense of his own this weekend, posting a game-high 27 points in the title win.
With the job finished, he’s trading in reminiscing for anticipation.
“It all just makes me more excited for next year,” Cayden said. “We got the win, so I’m confident that my guys will get the win too.”
