The first month of the 2025-26 college basketball season is complete. With the calendar turning to December and conference play on the horizon for most, a clear favorite has emerged for National Player of the Year honors. That would be Duke forward Cameron Boozer, who is the favorite (+160 on FanDuel) to win the award ahead of Purdue’s Braden Smith, BYU’s AJ Dybantsa and Michigan’s Yaxel Lendeborg, among others.
Boozer has played like the best player in the sport during the first month of the season. The former five-star prospect and projected top-three pick in the 2026 NBA Draft is coming off his best performance to date in one of his team’s biggest nonconference games of the season. Boozer finished with 35 points in Duke’s 80-71 win over Arkansas in the CBS Sports Thanksgiving Classic.
After that performance, Boozer earned heavy praise from his coach.
“He’s been so coachable from Day 1,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said. “You’re lucky when you’re coaching a guy where he’s harder on himself more than anybody else could be. … For me, the biggest difference, though, for a freshman, is learning how to play through contact and the decision-making, the decisiveness. He can do so many different things. Obviously, he’s shown he can shoot the ball from three, right? He can create his own shot. But I thought tonight he was a great connector for us, with quick decisions, putting pressure on the defense and then really opening up a lot for other guys to drive, shoot and make plays as well.”
Let’s jump into our rankings and get to our CBS Sports/USBWA Freshman of the Week for the 2025-26 college basketball season.
Freshman of the Week: Cameron Boozer, Duke
Welcome back to the Frosh Watch, our weekly ranking of the ten most impressive freshmen in college basketball. For the 11th season in a row, CBS Sports has once again teamed up with the United States Basketball Writers Association and its Wayman Tisdale Freshman of the Year Award to present this every-Tuesday feature. Each week, we’ll start by announcing the national Freshman of the Week honoree. The cycle for FOTW runs Tuesday-Monday.
Boozer finished with 35 points, nine rebounds and three assists during Duke’s win over Arkansas. Once again, Boozer used his strength to overpower defenders in the post and finished with his second game this season with at least 35 points. Boozer finished 13 of 18 from the floor and attempted 11 free throws.
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What makes Boozer’s performance that much more impressive is that he started slow and then went on an offensive tear to get his team back in the game. The one series of events that stood out against Arkansas was Boozer scoring eight consecutive points, which flipped the momentum back in Duke’s favor. When Duke needed a bucket, Boozer was the guy.
Previous Freshman of the Week winners
Frosh Watch: Ranking top 10 freshmen
1. Cameron Boozer | F | Duke
Stats: 22.9 PPG | 9.8 RPG | 3.9 APG
Entering the month of December, Boozer is the favorite to win National Player of the Year. He has an opportunity to become the second consecutive player from Duke to win the award as a freshman after Cooper Flagg accomplished the feat last season. Boozer’s next test — literally and figuratively — is a matchup against Florida this week. Last week: 1
2. Darryn Peterson | G | Kansas
Stats: 21.5 PPG | 3.5 RPG | 3.0 APG
Peterson has missed his team’s last six games with a hamstring injury, including the showdown against Duke in the Champions Classic. The projected No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft could be on the verge of returning. Peterson and Kansas face UConn next. Last week: 2
3. Caleb Wilson | F | North Carolina
Stats: 19.9 PPG | 9.9 RPG | 2.1 APG
Wilson recorded his fourth consecutive double-double of the season against St. Bonaventure and followed it up by scoring 18 points in a loss to Michigan State on Thanksgiving, UNC’s first defeat of the season. Caleb leads Carolina in scoring (19.9), rebounding (9.9), free throws made (43 for 56) and steals (12). He is second in field goal percentage (58.8), blocks (9) and plus/minus (+108).
The Tar Heels and Wilson take on Kentucky next. Last week: 3
4. AJ Dybantsa | F | BYU
Stats: 19.0 PPG | 6.4 RPG | 2.3 APG
Dybansta has been very consistent during the first month of the season. He has scored at least 16 points in all seven games. The BYU star finished with 18 points on 7 of 12 shooting against Dayton. Last week: 4
5. Mikel Brown Jr. | G | Louisville
Stats: 17 PPG | 3.3 RPG | 6.0 APG
Brown logged just 25 minutes against NJIT in his latest outing. However, he still managed to finish with nine points, seven assists and five rebounds. Brown and Louisville have two key matchups this week: Arkansas and Indiana. The matchup against Arkansas is especially intriguing due to the amount of first-year talent on the court at once. Last week: 5
6. Nate Ament | F | Tennessee
Stats: 18.8 PPG | 8.4 RPG | 3.2 APG
After struggling against a relentless Houston defense, Ament bounced back with a solid performance against Kansas. He finished with a near double-double (20 points and nine rebounds), and also went 8 of 8 from the free throw line. The Players Era Festival should be valuable experience for Ament and his team moving forward. Last week: 6
7. Koa Peat | F | Arizona
Stats: 15.6 PPG | 5.7 RPG | 2.9 APG
Peat finished with 16 points, four rebounds, four assists and two blocks in a blowout win over Norfolk State. Peat leads a loaded Arizona roster in points per game (15.6) through the first month of the season. Last week: 7
8. Darius Acuff Jr. | G | Arkansas
Stats: 17.4 PPG | 2.4 RPG | 4.4 APG
Acuff had a strong showing against Duke last week. He finished with 21 points and five assists in an 80-71 loss to the Blue Devils. The key matchup upcoming for Acuff and his team is against Louisville. That matchup will feature two of the best point guard prospects (Acuff and Brown) in this summer’s draft. Last week: 8
9. Kingston Flemings | G | Houston
Stats: 15.3 PPG | 3.6 RPG | 5.0 APG
For the first time this season, Flemings cracks the CBS Frosh Watch rankings. The former No. 20-ranked recruit in the 2025 recruiting cycle by 247Sports has been fantastic this season. He enters this week averaging 15.3 points and 5.0 assists. His draft stock is rising fast. Keep an eye on him. Houston has plenty of NBA prospects on its roster, and Flemings is one of the best. Last week: NR
10. Meleek Thomas | G | Arkansas
Stats: 17.6 PPG | 4.6 RPG | 3.9 APG
Thomas got off to a slow start against Duke, but played well in the second half. Thomas finished with 13 points off the bench in the loss to the Blue Devils. Thomas shot 3 of 10 from the 3-point line in that game. Last week: 10
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