Cameron Boozer suffered multiple fractures around his eye during Duke’s loss to UConn in the Elite Eight, the freshman star revealed after accepting The Associated Press and United States Basketball Writers Association player of the year awards.
Boozer said that he had “a couple” of fractures and that he was “good” now, with the NBA draft roughly two months away. The Duke forward is a projected top-five pick.
Boozer opted not to undergo any surgery to deal with the injuries.
“I’m just going through the healing process,” he said. “It hurt in the game, but I wish the outcome would have been better, but that’s not really what I’m here to focus on. We had a great year. Like I said, it’s an individual award, but I wouldn’t be here without my teammates and my coaches.”
Boozer had been just the fifth player to ever be named the AP Men’s National Player of the Year.
He was injured during the first half of the Elite Eight loss to UConn when he was attempting to go up for a shot against 7-foot-1 center Eric Reibe, who hit Boozer in the right eye with his elbow while contesting the shot.
Boozer had swelling around and under the eye.
There is some thought that, depending on the severity of the injury, Boozer’s draft stock could be impacted.
He said that he’s just focused on winning wherever he ends up in the NBA.
“I think I’m just a winning player, all-around player. I think I impact the game in so many different ways,” Boozer said. “And I think my competitiveness translates to any level. I think any team who takes a chance on me is going to be very happy with the results they get from it.”
In his lone season at Duke, Boozer averaged 22.5 points, 10.2 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.4 steals.
