Elite forward prospect Xavier Booker set to check out Notre Dame
Xavier Booker’s scholarship offer list and recruiting ranking clout have both blown up to such an extent in the past month that the 6-foot-11 power forward from Indianapolis Cathedral High can’t even begin to consider a commitment timeline.
What the nation’s No. 2 men’s basketball prospect overall in the newest Rivals150 can and did prioritize this week is a two-day recruiting trip to check out Notre Dame.
He’s expected to arrive Thursday night, knowing Irish head coach Mike Brey is jetting Thursday to spend NBA Draft night at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., with former Notre Dame guard Blake Wesley and his family.
Brey then will come right back to South Bend. Ind., and spend all day Friday with Booker on day 2 of the official visit.
Wesley is the first one-and-done player in Notre Dame history. Booker is expected to do the same wherever he ends up.
Duke and Michigan State are the perceived front-runners for a five-star prospect who plays with power and length around the rim at both ends of the court, and has a 3-point perimeter game to go with it. The Irish, though, were one of 10 teams he rattled off recently as the ones which intrigued him the most.
Gonzaga is one of the most recent teams to join the chase as Booker’s offers blew into the 20s in number this month. As far as rankings, last week he moved from No. 37 to No. 2 in the 2023 Rivals rankings and is challenging North Carolina commit GG Jackson, from Columbia, S.C., for the top spot.
“He has blended tool-based upside with production in a way that few other prospects in this class have,” Rivals basketball recruiting director Rob Cassidy wrote of Booker. “He recently had NBA scouts at the Pangos All-American Camp buzzing about his future.”
Booker has not ruled out a direct jump to professional basketball in the NBA G League.
Notre Dame has some history with Cathedral High standouts, though not recent. Ken Barlow and Scott Hicks played for Notre Dame in the 1980s, while Walt Sahm played for Notre Dame in the early 1960s.
The early signing period for men’s basketball runs Nov. 9-16.
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