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HomeNews UpdateMichigan State’s Xavier Booker on the predictions for the first round of the draft

Michigan State’s Xavier Booker on the predictions for the first round of the draft

July 12, 2024
Michigan State’s Xavier Booker on the predictions for the first round of the draft

Despite averaging less than 10 minutes per game during his freshman season, Xavier Booker, a sophomore center for the Michigan State University men’s basketball team, is already being touted by some as a first-round pick in next year’s NBA Draft.

This pressure of expectation is nothing new for Coach Tom Izzo’s program – former Spartan stars like Miles Bridges and Jaren Jackson Jr. were held to the same standards.

Booker still has some business to take care of before he decides to end his career with the Spartans, but it’s entirely possible that he could be a top pick in the 2025 NBA Draft.

“Honestly, it’s always been my goal to get to the NBA,” Booker told me Thursday at the 2024 Moneyball Pro-Am. “So I’ve been working hard and my goal after this year is to get to the NBA. So I’m going to work hard, but obviously I’ve got to grow in the short term along the way. My main goal right now is to get better in the summer, do well in Spain, win games in Spain and then carry that over into the season.”

With high expectations comes pressure. Pressure is often seen as a negative thing. But Booker sees it differently.

“Pressure is everywhere,” the Spartan center said. “If anything, pressure is honestly like a privilege because it means you’re just doing something right and people have high expectations of you. So I feel like pressure is just a privilege.”

Fortunately, Booker, who wants to realize his dream of making it to the NBA, has one of the most respected basketball coaches by his side.

“It’s very valuable,” Booker said. “He (Coach Izzo) has great knowledge — he gets a lot of feedback from NBA people and, honestly, just gets all the feedback in general. He’s been in the game a long time. So when you have a coach like him, he knows pretty much everything. So having a coach like him really means a lot.”

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