NOTES: Time short for Booker to impress recruiters
Deishuan Booker was the proverbial big fish in a small pond for Agassi Prep’s boys basketball team.
The 6-foot-2-inch point guard led Southern Nevada in scoring as a senior and guided the Stars to their second straight state title while being named Division III player of the year.
But during Booker’s two varsity seasons at Agassi Prep, the Stars rarely stepped out of their division to play, and the lack of exposure made it difficult for college recruiters to evaluate him.
The spring signing period opens Wednesday with several local athletes expected to sign a letter of intent, but Booker will not be one of them. Instead, he is one of the hundreds of unsigned senior basketball players across the country who will try to earn a Division I scholarship offer before the signing period ends May 20.
“I feel like I’ve proven myself to be able to better a team, but they want to see me against better competition, so that’s what this spring is all about,” Booker said. “That will be the beginning of my next chapter.”
Booker, who sat out his sophomore season at Agassi Prep after transferring from Bishop Gorman, averaged 27.7 points, 6.0 rebounds, 8.0 assists and 3.3 steals as a senior. He earned third-team all-state honors for the second consecutive season and finished his career on a 45-game winning streak.
This spring, Booker is playing with the Las Vegas Knicks on the travel circuit and knows his opportunities to impress are limited.
“I try not to let it get to me because I’m sure it would affect my play, so I just treat every game the same,” Booker said. “It’s a big deal, so it pushes me to perform at my best at all times. It makes me hungrier.”
Booker competed with the Knicks during the local Pangos Spring Spectacular last weekend, which was the first live evaluation period of the spring for college coaches. There is another evaluation period at the end of the month, and Booker hopes to have a Division I offer at its conclusion.
Booker’s only scholarship offers are from Division II schools. Agassi Prep coach Trevor Diggs said Booker also could opt to attend a post-graduate prep school.
“Each game he plays now counts,” Diggs said. “He’s done a good job, but sometimes when you come from a small school, you have to be extraordinary. I know he’s a Division I player. It’s up to him to prove it.”
■ MACK SHINES IN SOCAL — Green Valley senior Ian Mack won the boys invitational 100-meter dash and was second in the 200 at the Arcadia (Calif.) Invitational track and field meet Saturday.
Mack’s winning time of 10.44 seconds in the 100 is the No. 2 wind-legal time in the nation this season, according to Dyestat.com. His previous best was 10.46 on March 28 at the Las Vegas Track Classic.
Mack posted the No. 8 legal mark in the 200, crossing the line in 21.45. Rai Benjamin of Mount Vernon, N.Y., won in 21.26, the third-best time in the nation.
■ RECENT COMMITMENTS — Basic senior Logan Green to Columbia Basin College (Wash.), Desert Oasis seniors Caeden Marin, Dominic Paratore and Chris Van Kuren to McCook Community College (Neb.), and Green Valley senior Christian Straub to Florence-Darlington Technical College (S.C.) for baseball. … Centennial senior Madison Perkins to Sheridan College (Wyo.) for women’s soccer.
Contact reporter David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidSchoenLVRJ.