UNC basketball recruiting signee Derek Dixon Katie Goodale / USA TODAY NETWORK

Future UNC Basketball Guard Derek Dixon About to Face Two Duke Pledges

Originally posted on North Carolina Tar Heels on SI
By Matt Giles | Last updated Dec 4, 2024 5:37 PM ET

Early 2025 UNC basketball signee Derek Dixon and his preseason-No. 10 Gonzaga College High School (D.C.) Eagles are now only two days away from their 2024-25 debut, a showdown against the Oak Ridge High School (Fla.) Pioneers at The Main Event prep showcase in Miami at 5:45 p.m. ET Friday.

And on the second and final day of the event at 2:45 p.m. ET Saturday, Dixon & Co. will square off against the Columbus High School (Fla.) Explorers and their heralded Boozer twins, five-star forward Cameron Boozer and five-star guard Cayden Boozer. From the viewpoint of folks on Tobacco Roads, the game figures to serve as a partial preview of the 2025-26 Tar Heels' bouts against the archrival Duke Blue Devils.

This weekend will bring a few ELITE APPOINTMENT TV matchups:

Long Island Lutheran-Montverde
Gonzaga-Columbus
IMG Academy-PVI
Grayson-Wheeler
Prolific Prep-Utah Prep
Link Academy-La Lumiere
Sidwell Friends-PVI
Dynamic Prep-Columbus
Brewster Academy-Long Island Lutheran pic.twitter.com/ofrdeMGbqZ
— Samad Hines (@Samad_Hines) December 3, 2024

Cameron Boozer, a 6-foot-9, 245-pound versatile bruiser sitting No. 2 overall on the 247Sports 2025 Composite, and Cayden Boozer, a 6-foot-4, 205-pound crafty floor general boasting a No. 23 composite ranking, are the sons of 2001 Duke basketball national champion and two-time NBA All-Star forward Carlos Boozer.

They inked their scholarship agreements with the Blue Devils during the early signing period in November, joining Harvard-Westlake School (Calif.) five-star forward Nikolas Khamenia and Bellaire High School (Texas) five-star forward Shelton Henderson to give Duke the nation's top-ranked class at this juncture.

Not long after that, despite Columbus beginning its highly anticipated campaign at No. 1 overall in the national rankings, the Explorers fell to Prolific Prep (Calif.) in their season opener. They've since improved to 3-1.

Derek Dixon, a 6-foot-3, 190-pound combo backcourt talent who currently checks in at No. 48 among his peers and became the first 2025 UNC basketball recruiting addition via his commitment in late September, is fully on board as a future Tar Heel. So is one fellow early signee in Davidson Day School (N.C.) four-star guard Isaiah Denis, No. 62 overall.