25 game check in Xavier Booker looks to find consistency similar to 24-point outburst against Rutgers

Xavier Booker was a new incoming transfer for the Bruins for 2025. After spending two seasons at Michigan State, he came to UCLA to be the starting center. UCLA had just lost Aday Mara to Michigan and William Kyle III to Syracuse. So, they had a big hole upfront to fill. By bringing in Booker, it allowed the Bruins to move Tyler Bilodeau back to power forward. Which created a domino effect to also move Eric Dailey Jr. back to small forward. Allowing the team to get away from the three guard sets, one that plagued them at times in 2024.

Booker has been a mixed bag of results this season for UCLA. He has had some glimpses of really good games. Such as one recently against Rutgers where he had 24 points on 10-11 shooting in a 98-66 win. But then followed it up with an 0-5 for one point game the next game against Washington. He has also gone scoreless in four games this season. Showing some inconsistency in his game for his first season with the Bruins. He has improved his shot blocking though as he is at 1.3 blocks per game on the season. With eight games of at least two blocks.

Booker is an athletic center. He can screen and roll really well. But he will never be back to the basket type center. He has also improved his 3-point shooting to help space the offense a little bit. Almost doubling his 3-point shooting percentage from 23.3% in 2024 to 45.7% in 2025. That is the type of player that he is. Besides the dunks and rolls, he will not be a points in the paint type center. Which is fine because that is rare for this generation now. On the season he is averaging 7.3 points and 3.8 rebounds as the starting center.

It remains to be seen what we will see out of Booker for the last six games of the regular season. Then when we get to the Big Ten tournament and if UCLA plays in March. But they will need him to play good basketball to make a run. As of now, signs point to him coming back to UCLA for another year. But in this era, you just never know with players. He has gotten all the opportunities needed this season. He will also have the chance to make an impact down the stretch.