Michigan State basketball: Duke may no longer be top threat for Xavier Booker

A recent development on Duke’s recruiting board may help Michigan State basketball in its pursuit of five-star center Xavier Booker.

Tom Izzo may have disappointed with his inaction in the 2022 recruiting class in terms of late additions, but Michigan State basketball’s Hall of Fame coach may make up for it in 2023.

By already landing four-star point guard Jeremy Fears, Izzo has a solid start to the class and he’s hoping that he can seal the deal on his top big man target, Xavier Booker, as well.

Booker has been at the top of Izzo’s board for a while now as he was one of the first to recruit the big man from Indiana even when he was ranked in the 100-range nationally. Now, he’s listed as the No. 4 overall recruit on 247Sports and No. 8 on On3.

Duke’s recent involvement with Booker has some Spartan fans worried but a recent development might just take the Blue Devils out of the running.

According to national recruiting analyst Jamie Shaw of On3, Duke is prioritizing another center ahead of Booker which is only going to help the Spartans’ chances to land him.

"We know Duke has offered only two centers in 2023, On3’s No. 21 JP Estrella and No. 8 Xavier Booker. One source told me recently, at this point, to look for 6-foot-11 JP Estrella to be at the top of the recruiting board. Estrella is originally from Maine and will play his senior season at Wolfeboro (NH) Brewster Academy."

This is an interesting development and all of those “oh great, Duke is involved” groans can subside — at least for the time being.

Booker projects to be a center at the next level but can also play some power forward and Duke has two top-10 power forwards committed in its 2023 class. With JP Estrella reportedly being Duke’s top center target in the class, that may remove the Blue Devils completely here.

This is great news for Izzo and the Spartans in regards to Booker.