Booker will follow a long line of great Michigan State forwards. He has all the tools to be the best one Tom Izzo has ever coached. Will all the skills come together while he is still in East Lansing?
Tom Izzo has had no shortage of talent in his time at Michigan State.
The Spartans are often remembered for their guard play.
Mateen Cleaves and the National Title, Cassius Winston beating Duke with Zion Williamson, Kalin Lucas and back to back Final Fours, and many others.
Yet, Michigan State has a long history of great forwards too.
Draymond Green is the most celebrated, most successful, and the most hated Michigan State forward.
Jaren Jackson Jr. was the fourth overall pick in the draft and just won Defensive Player of the Year in the NBA. His teammate and fellow Spartan, Xavier Tillman, just played admirably in a playoff series against Lebron and the Lakers.
From Raymar Morgan to Adreian Payne (RIP) to Branden Dawson to Miles Bridges and so on, Tom Izzo is no stranger to great forwards.
Even the leading scorer on Izzo’s National Championship team was a forward in Morris Peterson, not Mateen Cleaves.
Izzo has a knack for developing his forwards and putting them in the NBA.
For Xavier Booker, the decision on where to go to College was easy.
Measuring in at 6’10” and 210 pounds, Xavier Booker is a lean big. He isn’t a true center. Booker is a forward and wants to be one.
Watch his highlights and you don’t see a larger human being overpowering underdeveloped kids in the post.
Rather Booker is a slender and agile attacking force.
His tape is filled with confident dribbling as he weaves through traffic or leads the break. Some highlights include back to the basket skills, but Booker wants to be facing the defense.
A typical starting spot on the court for him is at the top of the key or the free throw line extended.
Booker is comfortable driving past, shooting over the top, or distributing. A triple threat.
Other top rated big recruits like Dereck Lively and Kel’el Ware have High School highlight tapes overflowing with simple dunks and alley-oops. The athleticism pops, but the plays are also predominantly against short white kids who will never sniff college basketball.
It is simple to catch lobs, slam home dunks after easy rebounds, and block the ever living shit out of weak shots against scrubs.
Booker shows more skill. His highlight tape doesn’t show one dominant trait. It shows budding skills in different facets of the game.
One highlight will show him blocking a shot. Another will show him dribbling fluidly end to end and finish at the rim. The next will show him facing up, finding a cutter, and then cutting himself after the pass.
Booker is comfortable shooting in a variety of spots too. Clearly he is comfortable around the rim, but he can shoot from three. His stroke seems natural and isn’t stuck in one spot. Booker can hit corner threes, free throw range jumpers, wing threes, even midrange shots off of the dribble.
Still, Booker is a work in progress.
His jumper at times is a bit mechanical. The dribbling doesn’t have a polish to it yet. There aren’t as many blocks as there should be for a guy his size.
Highlight tapes don’t show the misses. They also don’t show the motor complaints scouts have.
Booker is still growing into who he wants to be. That is why Michigan State and Tom Izzo is a perfect fit.
The coaching and the reps he needs to become a top pick in the NBA are waiting for him in East Lansing.
Just like the great Spartan forwards before him, Booker will have to fit in next to his teammates.
Michigan State went to the Sweet Sixteen last season and were ever so close to beating Marquis Nowell and Kansas State to make the Elite Eight.
The team felt there was unfinished business. So, everyone is coming back for another round.
Malik Hall, AJ Hoggard, and Tyson Walker are returning and Michigan State will have a Big Ten Championship and Final Four goals in mind.
Xavier Booker will need to figure out where he fits into that goal and his role on this team.
The Starting 5 for Izzo will likely be Hoggard/Walker/Hall (or Akins)/ Booker/ Sissoko.
How will Booker fit in next to a rim running big like Sissoko? How does he fit at the 4 instead of a stretch 5?
Jaren Jackson Jr. played the 4 next to a non-shooting big in Nick Ward during his one year at MSU.
The fit at times was clunky. Other times it created crazy mismatches. Ward only played 20 minutes a game allowing Jackson to be the 5 for spurts.
Will something similar happen with Sissoko and Booker?
JJJ averaged 3 blocks a game as a Freshman and won DPOY in the Big Ten. MSU needed him to play 5 and be in the paint. Will they need Booker to be a shot blocking presence like that?
Beyond his fit with Sissoko, Izzo will toy with pairing sophomore Jaxon Kohler and Booker for a spread out lineup.
How well can Booker and fellow freshman forward Coen Carr play together? That pairing has plenty of athleticism but will it have enough shooting?
Surely, there will be moments with Hall as the 4 and Booker at center in a 5-out approach too. My guess for the Spartans best 5 will end up being Walker/Hoggard/Akins/Hall/Booker.
Maximizing lineups will be Izzo’s responsibility, but if you have a talent like Booker it needs to be about figuring things out around him.
Booker’s job is to fit in with the talented Spartan guards like all the great Spartan forwards before him.
The Tyson Walker and Xavier Booker pick and roll will be a dream.
AJ Hoggard and Booker will be more of an exercise. Can Booker be a pic and pop big? How will he fit next to um … well an inconsistent shooter in Hoggard?
Xavier Booker will even have to play off of five-star freshman guard Jeremy Fears too.
Booker won’t be option 1 in the offense. Nobody in next year’s draft is the undeniable no. 1 option. His ability to blend in will be a defining factor of his season.
What does Booker look like as the roll man? How good of an off-ball screener will Booker be? Will Booker affect the game when posted in the corner? Can he create offense in Dribble Hand Offs?
Will Booker limit his guards or open the offense up for them? When he catches balls off the roll can he distribute? Will he be able to make the right read consistently? Or will he make plenty of freshman mistakes?
Xavier Booker has all the tools.
His tape shows a guy who is a jack of all trades, but a master of none.
Booker’s freshmen year will show what kind of player he wants to be.
What kind of defender will Booker be? How much of a distributor can Booker be? What kind of offensive presence is Booker against better competition? On a talented team is he a 1st, 2nd or even 3rd scoring option?
Booker shows the ability to be the ultra-sleek modern big. Dribbling skills, outside shooting, playmaking, rim protection, lean and mobile. Booker is built for the NBA.
If Booker breaks ground on all those skills, he can turn into a candidate to be a top 5 pick and Michigan State can compete for another National Title.
Booker will continue the tradition of great forwards under Izzo. He has the ability to be the best forward Izzo has coached.
Whether he reaches that potential will define the Michigan State season.