Boateng committed to Duke University out of high school, but transferred after one season to Arizona State.

[3] Boateng was named Delaware high school player of the year by the Delaware Sportswriters & Broadcasters Association, and earned national recognition that included Gatorade State Player of the Year, 4th Team,[4] and garnering the ranking of the 3rd best center for the 2005 recruiting class, behind only Andrew Bynum and Amir Johnson.

[5] Boateng received scholarship offers from Boston College, Georgetown, Michigan, UCLA, Villanova, and Duke.

Due to NCAA rules, Boateng was forced to sit out a year before playing his final 3 seasons.

As a senior, Boateng scored a career-high 24 points on 11-of-11 shooting against Stanford on 25 February 2010, tying school and Pac-10 records for highest field-goal percentage in a conference game, minimum of 10 shots taken.

Boateng began 2011 in great form, winning the MVP of the tri-test series with the Netherlands and Nigeria.

He followed this up with some solid performances in the London Prepares Olympic test event, averaging almost 6 points per game against world class opposition.

[20] Boateng was then selected to be part of the British national team that competed in the 2011 EuroBasket championship in Lithuania.