Carlos Boozer: Schools other than Duke offered gifts during recruitment

Carlos Boozer was one of the most heavily recruited players in his high school class before opting to play for Mike Krzyzewski at Duke over a number of top programs.

After a report from Yahoo Sports detailed alleged payments to a number of top players over the past couple of years, Boozer was asked on Sports Illustrated's "HOLDAT Nation" if he was ever offered gifts to attend a college.

"I'm going to be honest, I was a kid that turned it down," Boozer said. "I had schools telling me that if you come to my school you'll start right away, we'll give you a Jeep Cherokee, which at that time was one of the hottest whips out, we'll give you $1,000 a month, you don't have to go to class, you just gotta come play ball for us."

Boozer admits he was completely turned off by the schools offering gifts, preferring to be challenged and to put in the hard work he had been taught by his parents. After Krzyzewski met with his family and refused to start Boozer as a freshman, he was immediately turned on to the Blue Devils' program.

"That made me excited to have to go work for what I wanted," the 36-year-old said. "I didn't want to owe nobody nothing so I turned that stuff down, went to Duke and worked my butt off and became a starter as a freshman. That was a challenge enough for me."

Boozer ended up starring for Duke over his three-year career, averaging 18.2 points and 8.7 rebounds per game in his final season. He was eventually selected in the second round of the 2002 draft and played 13 seasons for four teams in the NBA.