It didn’t take long for Xavier Booker to find a new home.
The Michigan State basketball sophomore will remain within the Big Ten and transfer to UCLA, according to Booker's Instagram account and multiple reports. The former five-star recruit will have two years of eligibility remaining.
Booker was one of three Spartans who enter the portal Tuesday, less than 36 hours after MSU’s season ended Sunday in the Elite Eight with a loss to Auburn in Atlanta.
The 6-foot-11, 240-pound forward from Indianapolis started the first three games of this season before being moved into a reserve role, then saw his minutes begin to dwindle as the Spartans’ 30-7 season progressed.
Over a four-game window in late November and early December, Booker scored 52 of his 155 points and grabbed 21 of his 73 rebounds for the season. MSU was only plus-10 with him on the floor during that stretch in which he averaged 13.0 points and 5.2 rebounds.
However, in the other 29 games he played in 2024-25, Booker averaged just 3.6 points and 1.8 rebounds, finishing with 4.7 points and 2.2 rebounds over 12.8 minutes per game. He was a rotation-low plus-31 for the season entering the NCAA tournament and played just three minutes of mop-up time in the Spartans’ 25-point win over Bryant in the first round and did not see the floor again.
Booker averaged 7.1 minutes over his final 11 appearances, scoring 17 points with 10 rebounds and going 5-for-14 from 3-point range. However, Booker did not score in his final four games and had two rebounds in those limited minutes.
UCLA finished its first season as a member of the Big Ten with a 23-11 overall record and 13-7 in league play, beating MSU 63-61 on Feb. 4 in Los Angeles in the lone meeting between the two programs. Booker had six points, three rebounds and two blocks in 15 minutes for the Spartans in that game. The Bruins lost to Tennessee in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
Two other MSU players, junior combo guard Tre Holloman and redshirt freshman shooting guard Gehrig Normand, both have officially entered the portal, the school confirmed. Players can enter the NCAA's transfer portal and still return to their original schools.
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