Xavier Ellis Booker (born September 9, 2004) is an American

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

player for the

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Big Ten Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF ...

of the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

. He previously played for the

Michigan State Spartans The Michigan State Spartans are the athletic teams that represent Michigan State University. The school's athletic program includes 23 Varsity team, varsity sports teams. Their mascot is a Spartan Army, Spartan warrior named Sparty, and the sc ...

. He was a consensus five-star recruit and one of the top players in the 2023 class.

Early life and high school career

Booker grew up in

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

and attended Cathedral High School. A center, he averaged 12.5 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.3 blocked shots per game as a junior as Cathedral won the Class 4A state championship. Booker was selected to play in the 2023 McDonald's All-American Boys Game. He was also named the Indianapolis City Co-Player of the Year.

Recruiting

Booker was a consensus five-star recruit and one of the top players in the 2023 class, according to major recruiting services. On July 30, 2022, he committed to playing college basketball for

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the ...

over offers from Auburn,

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

, Gonzaga,

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

, Notre Dame,

Ohio State The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one of the largest universities by enrollme ...

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

and

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donat ...

College career

Booker enrolled at

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

shortly after graduating high school in May 2023. In his freshman season, he appeared in 27 games and made two starts, averaging 3.7 points and 1.7 rebounds per game. In his sophomore season, he averaged 4.7 points and 2.2 rebounds per game in 33 appearances, including 3 starts. On April 1, 2025, Booker announced he would be entering the

NCAA transfer portal The NCAA transfer portal is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) application, database, and compliance tool created to manage and facilitate the process for student athletes seeking to transfer between member institutions. It is i ...

, and on April 4, he announced he would officially be transferring to

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

with two years of college eligibility remaining.

Career statistics

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2023–24 , style="text-align:left;",

, 27 , , 2 , , 9.3 , , .439 , , .333 , , .632 , , 1.7 , , .2 , , .1 , , .5 , , 3.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2024–25 , style="text-align:left;",

, 33 , , 3 , , 12.8 , , .417 , , .233 , , .786 , , 2.2 , , .2 , , .1 , , .7 , , 4.7

References

External links

Michigan State Spartans bio
2004 births Living people American men's basketball players Basketball players from Indianapolis Cathedral High School (Indianapolis) alumni Centers (basketball) Michigan State Spartans men's basketball players 21st-century American sportsmen {{2000s-US-basketball-bio-stub