Michigan State freshman forward Xavier Booker arrived in East Lansing with much buzz attached to his name. The Indianapolis native was a five-star prospect and was the No. 16 player in the 2023 class. He had offers from some major programs in college basketball (Duke, Gonzaga, Kansas, Purdue and many more).
Since he was so highly-ranked as a recruit, it may have come as a shock to people that Booker has only played in six of Michigan State’s nine games thus far and has only played 10.7 minutes per game in the six contests he has played in. In addition, Booker is 6-for-20 shooting (30%) and 2-for-5 from the free-throw line (40%). It’s safe to say it’s not the start to the season many people were expecting from a five-star prospect.
“We’re trying to get Booker some more minutes,” Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo said. “I thought one guy said it best, ‘I’ve been to practice, I see what the issues are.’
“I mean, Book has been great, he’s been great. He’s just got a ways to go. He’s gotta get the motor going. He’s gotta get his strength going. He’s gotta learn what it’s like to play at this level.
“Book’s been no problem. I asked him the other day why he seemed kind of down in the dumps. He said, ‘I’m just mad at myself. I haven’t done enough.’ … It does frustrate me when people that have never been at a practice, never seen him, and they got all their opinions. And that affects the kids, too.”
For Booker, being a guy that is not in the playing rotation in big games is new for him. He’s an extremely gifted basketball player, but it has been an “adjustment” for Booker to watch the game instead of playing the game.
“I’ve been doing good,” Booker said. “Obviously it’s an adjustment so far, definitely still got a lot of work to do. (I'm) getting used to a lot of things that I haven’t been doing in my life before. So it’s definitely an adjustment, but I’m coming along, just trying to take it day-by-day, not get mad at myself, just kind of trusting the process and trusting the work I put in.”
