Trajan Langdon<\/a><\/h5>\n \t
\n \t\t6'4\"\n \t\t - \n \t\tSG\n \t\t - \n \t\t1994\n \t<\/div><\/p>\n--- Langdon won three state championships for East Anchorage High (which Douglas beat in the championship game last year), a feat Carlos was expected to match this season. Coincidentally, Houston coached East at the time and after last year's game among the Juneau crowd Langdon found him. \u201cHe came up to me, we talked, he thanked me and we embraced,\" Houston said. \"With all the celebrating going on, that meant a lot to me... to think of his coach at a time like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
--- Langdon was the first high school player from Alaska to be selected to the McDonald\u2019s All-America team; Boozer is now the second. \u201cTrajan opened the doors for so many players in Alaska like me,\u201d Carlos explained. \u201cHe made many Alaskans basketball fans. All of us All-Americans who have followed him are indebted to him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Houston, though, said that Boozer has taken that popularity to another level.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith high school basketball having a higher profile now, and with more television coverage and the internet, Carlos, I think, is even bigger than Trajan was when he was in high school. I mean, when Carlos was just named to the McDonald\u2019s team, it was on the front page of the Juneau paper.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s the mayor up there,\u201d said Matsubara.<\/p>\n
Carlos also is a solid student, carrying a 3.3 GPA and scoring over 900 on the SAT. But with all the attention, the modest student-athlete hasn\u2019t let it go to his head. While he could probably score 50 points a game and destroy his Alaskan competition with every touch of the ball, he still plays within the team concept.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s first and foremost a team player,\u201d Houston said. \u201cHe does what we want him to do to make sure the team wins.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy family has emphasized academics my whole life,\u201d Carlos Jr. said. \u201cI knew growing up if I didn\u2019t get good grades, I couldn\u2019t play basketball, no matter how good I was.\u201d<\/p>\n
Houston, in fact, emphasizes the quality of a person Carlos is above all else. He readily relates the story that after Carlos made the winning shot in the state championship game last year, the floor\u2014and Carlos\u2014were mobbed with fans, cheerleaders and players. Carlos, however, quietly broke away from the raucous.<\/p>\n
Did moving to Alaska give him such a strong foundation of values?<\/p>\n
Boozer attributes it to his close-knit family, emphasizing his relationships with his father and mother, his older sister, Natasha<\/strong>, 19, and his younger siblings, Charles<\/strong>, 11, Nakeisha<\/strong>, 8, and Natonya<\/strong>, 6. Incidentally, some feel\u2014including Carlos Jr. himself\u2014that the college coaches should keep their flight schedules to Alaska since Charles is better at the same age.<\/p>\nBut Carlos Jr. also believes growing up in Alaska contributed to his outlook on life.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just a different world up here. The people are so friendly and trustworthy. It\u2019s peaceful. You can really relax and be yourself. It does tend to affect you, make you put things in perspective.\u201d<\/p>\n
And from the perspective of the majority of basketball fans in Alaska, Carlos Boozer is The King.<\/p>\n
CARLOS BOOZER NBA HIGHLIGHTS<\/h3>\n