Xavier Booker could see massive sophomore leap with new frame

Coming to Michigan State as a five-star big man with plenty of potential suitors from around the country, Xavier Booker was probably ready to become the next one-and-done to grace East Lansing with his presence. He was hoping for a Jaren Jackson Jr. type of season.

Unfortunately, he came to Michigan State at 205 pounds soaking wet and didn't quite have the frame to compete for minutes in Big Ten play. He got better throughout the year, but he got bullied a bit.

This forced Tom Izzo to answer some difficult questions about his freshman's growth despite coming in as one of the top-15 players in the country. He alluded to the fact that his body wasn't quite there yet and he did warn people before the season that Booker was extremely raw.

By the end of his freshman season, though, Booker looked like a budding star and really made a splash. He played at least 10 minutes in seven of the final eight games of the year and had a career game on the road against Purdue in which he dropped 11 points.

But after hearing about a recent muscle-addition this offseason, it sounds like Booker is ready to take off. According to a report, Booker has added about 20 pounds of muscle through the first two months of the offseason and he's up to 6-11 and 245 pounds now. That's a huge development that should only help him stay on the court next season.

Booker's growing frame reminds me a little of Adreian Payne when he came to Michigan State. He was 6-10 and 210 pounds and very, very raw. He needed a little more time to adjust to college ball than Booker will as he didn't break out until his junior year, but he went from averaging 2.5 points and 2.4 rebounds in 9.0 minutes per game as a freshman to 10.5 points and 7.6 rebounds as a junior in over 25 minutes because he packed on the muscle and had a Big Ten-caliber frame.

What did Booker average as a freshman? Just 3.7 points and 1.7 rebounds in 9.3 minutes. Sound familiar?

I'm not saying he'll be the next Payne, but the trajectory is similar but I feel like Booker has an even higher ceiling than Adreian did.

Look out for a monster sophomore season/