Cayden Boozer and the Duke Blue Devils had an impressive 2025-26 college basketball season, finishing the regular season with a 32-2 overall record and 17-1 in conference play, securing the ACC title as well. But after earning the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, Duke was upset by No. 2 seed UConn Huskies in the Elite Eight, ending its season.
Boozer had a solid freshman season for the Blue Devils. The former five-star guard out of Christopher Columbus High School in Miami finished the year averaging 7.7 points on 50.0% shooting, along with 2.3 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game. After coming off the bench for most of the season, he earned a larger role when starting guard Caleb Foster went down with an injury late in the year. But while Duke awaits Boozer’s basketball future, another player will be on the move.
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Nikolas Khamenia, a 6-foot-8 guard out of Harvard Westlake High School (Studio City, CA), was a five-star prospect in the class of 2025 (247Sports). He ranked as the 15th-best overall prospect in his class, along with the third-best small forward and the fourth-best from the state of California.
During his freshman season in Durham, Khamenia earned a significant role off the bench for Jon Scheyer's squad. Through 38 games played, he averaged 5.7 points on 44.4% shooting and 3.3 rebounds in 19.8 minutes per game. However, on Wednesday, after a disappointing end to the season for the Blue Devils, Khamenia decided it was time for a change, entering his name into the NCAA transfer portal.
"NEWS: Duke’s Nik Khamenia will enter the transfer portal, his agency, Excel Sports, told DraftExpress," Jonathan Givony of Draft Express wrote on Instagram. "The 6’8 wing was a top-15 recruit in the class of 2025 and a key rotation player this season, averaging 5.7 points in 20 minutes. Will have a huge line of P5 suitors."
Boozer took notice of his teammate's departure, reacting to Khamenia's transfer portal decision with two emojis: "🤞🏾❤️."
Khamenia is the second Duke player that Scheyer has lost to the transfer portal this week, as sophomore guard Darren Harris will be going elsewhere as well.
