Columbus' Cameron Boozer wins second Gatorade National Player of the Year award

Not everyone gets a personal visit at his school more than once from an NBA All-Star.
But not everyone wins National Player of the Year honors twice.
And not everyone has had a high school career quite like Columbus senior Cameron Boozer.
This week, for the second time in recent years, the Miami Heat's Kevin Love dropped by Columbus to give Boozer some good news.
For the second time in his career, Boozer was named the Gatorade High School Basketball National Player of the Year.
Boozer, already a high school All-American and a Duke University signee, also won the award as a sophomore.
Love, a five-time All-Star, also presented Boozer with the award back in 2023 at a ceremony at Columbus.
Boozer, who is ranked the No. 2 prospect in the country by 247Sports, Rivals and On3, just led Columbus to its fourth consecutive state championship, and is preparing to lead the Explorers in next week's Chipotle Nationals in Fishers, Indiana where they will chase a national title.
Boozer averaged 22.6 points, 12.0 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 2.0 steals and 1.3 blocks per game this season while leading the Explorers to a 27-3 record and a No. 1 national ranking per MaxPreps.
Boozer is also a 2025 MaxPreps Preseason First Team All-American and maintains a 3.94 unweighted GPA.
Boozer and his brother, Cayden, who is also a top 25 national prospect and Duke signee, will both participate in this year's McDonald's All-American Game in Brooklyn on Tuesday night.
Boozer beat out the other two finalists for the award, who were Caleb Wilson, a senior power forward from Atlanta, who signed with the University of North Carolina, and Brayden Burries, a senior guard from Eastvale, California, who is ranked No. 9 in the class of 2025 per 247 Sports and is also a McDonald's All-American.
The Boozer twins will next participate in the McDonald's All-American game on Tuesday night in Brooklyn before turning their attention to the Chipotle Nationals tournament, which will be played April 3-5.
Columbus, ranked No. 1 in the nation by MaxPreps, is vying to become the first Miami-Dade County school to finish the season ranked No. 1 nationally and be crowned a national champion.

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New York Times

8 hours ago

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Blue Jackets Sunday Gathering: 6 potential trade chips, targets and free-agent signings

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They were in Carolina together when Necas emerged as a legit NHL top-six forward. 1. Mitch Marner, RW, Toronto: It's also hard to believe the Maple Leafs will let a 100-point scorer walk, but it will likely come to that. If Marner is receptive to the idea of joining the Blue Jackets — and they're a much more inviting situation now than they were a short while ago — expect Waddell to throw massive term and money at Marner. His addition would make the Jackets one of the NHL's most dynamic offensive clubs. They might even discover a power play! 2. Nikolaj Ehlers, LW, Winnipeg: The bigger role he's long wanted with the Jets would be his in Columbus, including a possible run with Monahan and Kirill Marchenko on the top line. He's a 25-goal, 60-point player despite modest minutes. He played 15:47 per game last season, which would have ranked eighth among forwards in Columbus. 3. Jake Allen, G, New Jersey: In a thin market, he's at the top of most lists. If the Jackets part ways with Merzlikins, they'd almost certainly want a veteran player to pair with young Jet Greaves as a new-look tandem. Allen, who turns 35 later this summer, will seek a team that can promise him a shot at being the starter. It might take a three-year deal to land him, though. Advertisement 4. Aaron Ekblad, D, Florida: The Panthers will try to keep the band together after winning a second straight Stanley Cup title. For a time, it seemed Seth Jones' arrival would make Ekblad expendable, but he had a tremendous postseason and has made it clear he wants to stay. That's the only reason he's No. 4, not No. 1, on this list. 5. Brock Nelson, C, Colorado: He's not the right-shot center Columbus is looking for, and his career faceoff win percentage (48.0) is nothing to get excited about. But he's the type of player — big, immovable, sturdy — who can fit anywhere on the top two or three lines and have a presence about him. 6. Cody Ceci, D, Dallas: This wouldn't set off fireworks in the Arena District, but Ceci can carry big minutes and play a solid role next to an offensive defenseman. If Fabbro doesn't re-sign with the Blue Jackets, this might be more likely. It was a momentous week for the Ohio AAA Blue Jackets, whose efforts to build a new facility and add multiple sheets of ice to the growing central Ohio hockey scene took a big step forward. Delaware City Council approved plans to build a 125,000 square-foot complex — the Performance Impact Arena and Pavilion — that will include three ice rinks and a 6,000-seat amphitheater, which would host concerts in the summer and be transformed into an outdoor rink for use in the winter. The facility, with a price tag north of $50 million, will be built on approximately 14 acres at the southwest corner of the Sawmill Parkway/Ohio Route 42 intersection, about three miles south of Delaware. 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In recent seasons, host Brian Giesenschlag and analyst Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre have emanated from a Cincinnati studio during Blue Jackets road games, but that studio is no longer available for use. (Top photo of Ivan Provorov: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)

NBC Sports

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Chuba Hubbard wants to play Olympic flag football for Canada

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