Booker says he’ll take official OSU visit
It's not been for a lack of effort that Xavier Booker hasn't come up with a list of top schools yet.
Believe him: Booker has tried. But now after a meteoric spring rise in the national recruiting picture that has vaulted him to No. 4 in the class of 2023, the Indianapolis Cathedral power forward keeps having more options being presented to him.
Booker said he's learned to balance life while juggling all-star games, camp appearances and high-level college recruiting. It's a process, and Booker said he does not have a timeline for when he hopes to make a college decision.
“It changes,” he said. “Sometimes I might have a time where I want to kind of narrow down my options and schools but then it just keeps picking up so it's hard, but as of right now, no.”
That Booker was even in Columbus last week was a credit to his love for the game. From June 5-7, Booker was one of 120 players invited to the Pangos Allamerican Camp in Las Vegas, where like Pickerington Central's Devin Royal he was picked for the “Top 30 Cream of the Crop” game. The 6-foot-10, 205-pound Booker was named most valuable player after averaging 17.5 points and 5.3 rebounds while shooting 62.0% from the floor and 55.6% from 3
He arrived back in Indianapolis on Wednesday around 3 a.m., he said, then participated in an all-star game in Indianapolis
later that evening. Then it was another early wake-up call and a drive to Columbus for Ohio State's first team camp since 2019.
“At first it was kind of hard balancing everything, trying to get back to all the coaches, my family, my friends, school in general,” Booker said. “Over time I kind of learned how to do a better job of managing everything, getting back to the coaches and checking my schoolwork and also making time for my friends.”
Booker entered the spring ranked No. 91 nationally according to 247Sports.com as of April 15. When the ratings refreshed May 26, Booker had climbed to No. 4 nationally. Since May, the likes of Duke, Kansas, Auburn, Texas and Oregon have offered.
He has already taken official visits to Kansas State, Michigan State, Indiana and Purdue but still has multiple others potentially in the pipeline. Prospects are allotted five official visits during both their junior and senior seasons, so Booker could potentially take six more visits before making a decision.
One of them will be to Ohio State. “I'm supposed to go to Ohio State for an official,” he said. “Trying to make it either in the summer or the fall.”
The Buckeyes have been recruiting him for more than a year. Booker landed his offer from the Buckeyes on June 14, 2021, and since has taken multiple unofficial visits to the campus. He has primarily been recruited by Ohio State head coach Chris Holtmann and assistant Jake Diebler.
Ohio State has a commitment from St. Marys (Ohio) Memorial center Austin Parks for the 2023 class, but the two are varied enough in their size and skill that the Buckeyes view the two as capable of sharing court time.
“They like that I'm a versatile big,” he said of the Ohio State coaching staff. “They compare me to E.J. Liddell. The stuff that he did for Ohio State, they can see me doing the same things.” ajardy@dispatch.com @Adamjardy