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OLD GOLD FREE PRESS
Purdue Men's Basketball Recruiting

 Chris Booker

PHOTO NOT AVAILABLE

 CLASS OF: 2002
 SCHOOL: Tyler JC, TX
 SCHOOL: Diamond Hill HS, TX
 HEIGHT AND WEIGHT: 6'10 240lbs
 REACH AND WINGSPAN:
 POSITION: Center/Power Forward
 00-01 RATINGS:
 ACADEMICS: Yes
 STATUS: Signed to Purdue


BIO | NEWS | SCOUTING REPORTS | LINKS | SEASON STATS | HONORS | SCHEDULE

PLAYER BIO

Chris Booker, a 6'9 versatile forward, verbally committed to Purdue on September 26, 2001. Purdue was chosen from a list of schools that seemed to grow more than it was reduced, when the word got out Booker was a high Division I prospect. Along with Kansas and Illinois, two school who entered the race early for Booker, Louisville's Rick Pitino and Texas Tech's Bobby Knight made late runs and convinced Booker to officially visit. Unlike past recruiting battle between the two coaches and Keady, they were on the outside looking in. Booker averaged 9.3 points and 9.3 rebounds (252 in 28 games) as a freshman at Tyler while shooting 50-percent from the field, 42-percent from the perimeter (17-41) and 79-percent from the line. He was named honorable mention all-Region XIV conference as a freshman. Booker attended Diamond Hill-Jarvis High in Fort Worth, TX where he was the area player of the year as a senior. He originally signed with Houston in high school, hoping to play for former NBA star Clyde Drexler. Drexler later left, and Booker went the junior college route. TCU and some Big 12 schools recruited Booker out of high school when he was generally considered a sleeper. He didn't play summer ball until the summer between his junior and senior seasons. As a senior he averaged 23.9 points, 12.1 rebounds, 7.6 blocks and 4.4 assists. Booker's junior stats were 16.6 points, 10 rebounds, five blocks and four assists. The most notable quote from Booker was one he made during his senior season in high school when asked about the NBA..."There are other ways to make a million dollars. I am not going to college to play pro basketball." (Fort Worth Star-Telegram)

Booker verbally commited to Purdue on 9/26/01, and signed the first day of the early signing period on 11/14/01.


PLAYER NEWS

11-21-01...Keady's 2001-2002 recruiting class is now officially complete. Purdue has received an LOI from each verballed player making them official Boilermakers. Congratulations to the players and the coaching staff for another top 25 caliber class, rated as such by both Van Coleman and Bob Gibbons.

11-10-01...Tyler JC has opened the 2001-02 season with a 1-1 record, following a 100-90 win over Weatherford and a 79-76 loss to Cisco. In game one, Chris Booker scored 27 points to co-lead the team, and led all players with 13 rebounds. In game two, Booker scored 11 points. He has been Tyler's starting post player for the first two games. Booker is backed up by 6'7 230-pound freshman post Curtis Walker from Fort Bend (TX) and 6'9 255-pound freshman Lance Hood from Mansfield (OH). Walker is the gem of the two freshmen. A former all-american high school player, Walker is athletic enough to contribute in Tyler's uptempo game. He averaged 17 points and 12 rebounds as a senior in high school. Hood lack the athleticism of Walker, but is a skilled big body and rebounder. Hood averaged 15 points, 12 rebounds and two blocks as a senior in high school.

9-26-01...The big man drought has officially come to an end as Keady and staff sign two of their top 6'10 recruits, adding Chris Booker today. Tyler Junior College standout 6'10 post player with range Chris Booker has been confirmed to have committed to Purdue.

9-24-01...The Chris Booker decision should come this week, no later than October 1st according to comments he made to Jeff Washburn. The two finalists appear to be Purdue and Texas Tech, with Louisville and Washington now in the distance. Booker visited Texas Tech last weekend, and visited Purdue this past weekend.

9-20-01...We have received the 2001-2002 schedule for Tyler Junior College and have posted it below. Booker may be able to hone his skills at forward this year as Tyler JC has two 6'9 freshmen post players weighing in at 245 and 255 pounds respectively. Purdue may wish to keep the pipeline open to Tyler for these two, plus keep an eye on 7'1, 300-pound center Brandon Byrne, currently redshirting at Tyler.

9-19-01...Purdue hosts what may be the final piece to the class of 2002 this coming weekend as Chris Booker makes an official visit. Booker will follow a visit last weekend from already verbally committed small forward Melvin Buckley, while the staff has to wait until November 17th to get Matt Kiefer on campus for his official visit. Keady traveled to Fort Worth, Texas for a home visit with Booker on September 9th, then visited with Buckley on the 11th. Also in the article below, Purdue may again try to schedule an alternative to the midnight first practice held by most programs around the nation, in favor of an earlier time possibly in conjunction with a home football game.

8-17-01...The recruitment of Chris Booker continues. The new program in the mix who has shown a lot of interest of late is Texas Tech. Bobby Knight, rarely seen much on the recruiting trail during the summer at Indiana, was following Booker around at the Mullin JUCO Jamboree. Also in attendance were Roy Williams and an assistant from Kansas. Plans for a visit to Kansas have been pushed back to Kansas' version of Midnight Madness, a move the Kansas staff did not like. Booker also plans to take official visits to Washington State and Purdue. He has offers on the table from Texas Tech, Iowa State, Purdue, Washington State, Illinois, Texas, Arizona State, and Louisville. Previous questions about his academic standing have been cleared up, thanks to some hard work this summer in the classroom.

7-1-01...There is a lot of movement in recruiting now that players are beginning to hear from coaches and are accepting scholarship offers. There seems to be quite a few players in the 6'9 to 6'11 range with inside-outside games this year, and with Matt Kiefer's commitment to Purdue and 6'10 Chris Grimm's verbal to Marquette, we are seeing some movement with the versatile big men. Tyler JC 6'10 forward Chris Booker looks to be favoring Kansas, with Purdue running second and Rick Pitino now trying to get involved. Booker has a similar game to Gary West's Chris Hunter with respect to both wanting to play facing the basket and neither wanting to draw much contact. But Hunter is a better athlete, while Booker has perimeter range and a very good 15-foot jumper. With another scholarship available for a power forward or post player, Hunter, Best and Augustine are getting the most attention at the moment, with Kevin Cates a backup option for that scholarship. If Keady signs any of the remaining big forwards on his list, Purdue should have one of the most versatile combination of big forwards in the conference coming in.

6-13-01...Purdue has made the top four for Tyler JC big forward Chris Booker, but has some strong company with Kansas, Illinois and DePaul also in the hunt. Tyler head coach Chris Crutchfield said the Boilers were showing plenty of interest, adding "Purdue wants to add some more athleticism to their front line."

5-4-01...Darmetreis Kilgore's Tyler JC teammate 6'8 Bobbye Hill was once seen to list Purdue, but has chosen to attend Austin Peay. A freshman forward currently at Tyler, 6'9 Chris Booker, is now showing interest in Purdue along with Kansas and Illinois. Booker averaged 9.3 points and 9.3 rebounds (252 in 28 games) while shooting 50-percent from the field, 42-percent from the perimeter (17-41) and 79-percent from the line. Booker was named honorable mention all-Region XIV conference as a freshman. Booker attended Diamond Hill-Jarvis High in Fort Worth, TX where he was the area player of the year as a senior. He originally signed with Houston in high school, hoping to play for former NBA star Clyde Drexler. Drexler later left, and Booker went the junior college route. TCU and some Big 12 schools recruited Booker out of high school when he was generally considered a sleeper. He didn't play summer ball until the summer between his junior and senior seasons. As a senior he averaged 23.9 points, 12.1 rebounds, 7.6 blocks and 4.4 assists. Booker's junior stats were 16.6 points, 10 rebounds, five blocks and four assists.


SCOUTING REPORTS

Scouting report by Gene Keady..."We think Chris will be instant help because of his size and the fact that we are losing John Allison and Rodney Smith next season. He's gained valuable experience while in junior college. He's a big strong kid that will help us around the basket." (11/21/01, Purdue SID)

Scouting report by Van Coleman..."Booker is a big, strong, 245-pound kid that runs the floor very well." (11/15/01, Indianapolis Star)

Tyler head coach Mike Marquis..."The talent and potential are out the window on Chris. I really think my main goal with him, personally, is to give him that burning desire to be great every night - not be satisfied with playing, but be only satisfied with dominating." (11/04/01)

CBS Sportsline..."A product of Diamond Hill High School in Fort Worth, Texas, he may be a redshirt candidate since the Cougars already have Williams, Ford and Okafor up front. Booker can play inside or outside, though, which could make him a possibility at small forward." (April 10, 2000)

Daily Cougar..."Booker is a rangy 6-9, 215 pounds, with a shot-blocker's mentality." (June 12, 2000)


LINKS
  • Intimidating Booker would be a huge addition [J&C]
  • Inaugural Gatorade DFW all-star classic [IHigh]



    SEASON TO DATE STATISTICS
    Season thru PPG FG% FT% 3P% RPG APG SPG BPG RECORD ------------------------------------------------------------ thru 12/03/01 18.4 .568 .750 .400 12.3 5-5 00-01 season 9.3 .500 .790 .420 9.3 0.9 0.9 14-17 99-00 season 23.9 12.1 4.4 7.6 15-15 98-99 season 16.6 10.0 4.0 5.0

    AWARDS AND HONORS

    01-02 season
  • Preseason JUCO All-American (Street & Smith)
    00-01 season
  • All-Region XIV honorable mention
    99-00 season
  • Area Player of the Year (Fort Worth Telegram)
  • All-Area second team (Dallas Morning News)
    98-99 season
  • District MVP (District 9-4A)



    2001-02 SEASON SCHEDULE FOR TYLER JC
    Date Day Time Opponent ---- --- ---- -------------------- 11/05/01 MON 8:00P @ Weatherford 11/07/01 WED 7:30P Cisco 11/10/01 SAT 7:30P Southwestern Christian 11/12/01 MON 8:00P Weatherford 11/20/01 TUE 7:30P @ Blinn 11/22/01 THR 7:00P @ Pepsi NIT Tournament 12/01/01 SAT 8:00P Trinity Valley 12/03/01 MON 8:00P @ Navarro 12/05/01 WED 8:00P Kilgore 12/08/01 SAT 7:00P Baytown Lee 01/02/02 WED 8:00P @ Cisco 01/09/02 WED 8:00P @ Panola 01/12/02 SAT 8:00P San Jacinto 01/16/02 WED 8:00P @ Jacksonville 01/19/02 SAT 8:00P Lon Morris 01/23/02 WED 8:00P Angelina 01/26/02 SAT 8:00P @ Paris 01/30/02 WED 8:00P Blinn 02/02/02 SAT 8:00P @ Trinity Valley 02/06/02 WED 7:30P Navarro 02/09/02 SAT 7:00P @ Kilgore 02/11/02 MON 7:00P @ Baytown Lee 02/13/02 WED 8:00P Panola 02/16/02 SAT 7:30P @ San Jacinto 02/20/02 WED 7:00P Jacksonville 02/23/02 SAT 7:00P @ Lon Morris 02/27/02 WED 7:00P @ Angelina 03/02/02 SAT 7:00P Paris 03/10/02 SUN 7:00P @ Region XIV Tournament

  • As news organizations move their stories to an archive, some of the links listed above may become inactive

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