Maybe week at Y. reassured Boozer

Carlos Boozer is more familiar with Utah than one may think.

Over the years many top-line free agents and even sometimes Jazz draftees try to avoid living and playing in the Beehive State — an issue that has been fodder for constant discussion.

Well, Boozer may be different. Perhaps he got a little taste of Utah on his own, before he became an NBA star, even before he decided to play at Duke. Maybe he learned some positive things about Utah and debunked other rumors a long time ago, and maybe that's why listening to Jazz pitches while eyeing a lucrative offer sheet was an easy deal — aside from salivating over the $28 million raise he may soon realize.

Obviously, Boozer stopped in Salt Lake City for a workout just before his draft. He's also made a few road trips to Utah with Cleveland since turning professional.

But back in 1998, just before his junior year of high school, Boozer spent a sliver of his summer in Utah playing pickup games at BYU's Marriott Center and Smith Fieldhouse. For sure, it was a change of pace from Alaska where he attended high school.

Boozer came to Provo in late June or early July with his AAU coach, Darren Matsubara, an acquaintance of Steve Cleveland who lives in Fresno, where Cleveland coached at Clovis West High and Fresno City College. Cougar coach Cleveland was just fitting into his new role in Provo and had used his Rolodex from Fresno to fill out his roster of coaches and counselors for his own summer youth hoop camp at BYU.

Matsubara brought Boozer in for camp.

I remember seeing Boozer in the Marriott Center, doing his patented one-step dunk. He was 6-foot-8 and solid, but he was just a kid, mixing it up with Cougar players who hung around for pickup games during the summer.

Contacted over the weekend about this Boozer visit in Provo, Cleveland was between flights in an airport while recruiting. He believes Boozer's Provo stay was almost two weeks; assistant Dave Rose remembers it as a week.

Cleveland and Rose were impressed with Boozer, but they knew they didn't have a chance to sign him or even get an official visit. They said they weren't even on the radar screen with the young star at that time.

I remember how good of an inside game the kid had. Boozer was obviously a talented rebounder who could bang around the hoop. He weighed about 225 pounds and was quick off his feet and had all kinds of shots in his repertoire. Even then, you could see Duke or North Carolina all over the kid. Today he remains among the top five efficiency players in the NBA.

I'd like to report that he found a girlfriend in Utah County, a hidden, secret love. But that would be a lie.