Syracuse Basketball: 5-star standout says Duke is being 'overlooked' - wait, wut?

Cameron Boozer, an incoming freshman at Duke, says the Blue Devils are being "overlooked" this off-season, according to an ESPN report.

Huh?

I don't get that at all. Duke, which has owned Syracuse basketball in recent years, made the Final Four a season ago. Ahead of the 2025-26 campaign, the Blue Devils are projected as a top-10 team and a No. 1 or a No. 2 seed in next spring's NCAA Tournament. Oh, and Duke has the No. 1 national class in the 2025 cycle.

But yet, the 6-foot-9 Boozer, a five-star power forward and the country's No. 3 prospect in 2025, recently told Myron Medcalf of ESPN: "I think we have a special group. I think we're very overlooked right now, but once the season starts, that'll change for sure. ... I think just playing together, playing hard, defending, competing, we're going to be in a spot to get [to the Final Four] just like they did last year."

Syracuse basketball will play Duke just once in the upcoming season.

Granted, this off-season, the Blue Devils did lose several standouts to the 2025 NBA Draft, including No. 1 overall pick, first-team All-American and national player of the year Cooper Flagg. But it's not like head coach Jon Scheyer hasn't reloaded for 2025-26.

Understandably, Boozer's comments took on a life of their own via social media and in chat rooms. Some of my fellow 'Cuse fans had choice words about Boozer's thoughts.

Former Syracuse basketball power forward Maliq Brown will be a senior at Duke in 2025-26. The Blue Devils have won 10 straight against the Orange and sport a 17-6 overall mark against Syracuse basketball.

While I don't think that Duke and Syracuse are rivals, they have played some memorable games since the Orange bolted the Big East Conference for the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2013-14. One that I attended was in early February of 2014, when Syracuse basketball beat the Blue Devils, 91-89 in overtime, at the JMA Wireless Dome.

The atmosphere in the Dome, that night, was electric.

By the way, I have nothing against Duke. I know some college basketball fans despise the Blue Devils, likely because Duke is a powerhouse program and wins a ton of games. I'm not hating on the Blue Devils for that.

But when I came across Boozer's comments earlier this week, it did have me thinking: what the heck is he talking about? How can Duke be overlooked if pundits think they'll be one of the top teams in the country this coming stanza?

As part of its 18-contest ACC docket, Syracuse basketball will travel to the Blue Devils. The date isn't yet known. I assume that Duke will be a heavy favorite, given recent history between these two programs.

I'd love to see Syracuse basketball spring an upset. The Orange has done it before at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Yet the Blue Devils, I'd wager, will be in the thick of the Final Four conversation throughout 2025-26.

Even if Cameron Boozer thinks Duke is "very overlooked right now."