Dec 4, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Michigan State Spartans forward Xavier Booker (34) celebrates his three-point basket against the Minnesota Golden Gophers during the second half at Williams Arena. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

Why UCLA's Booker Deserves Positive Welcome in Return to MSU

Originally posted on Michigan State Spartans on SI
By Jacob Cotsonika | Last updated Feb 16, 2026 11:00 AM ET

The transfer portal sometimes creates storylines like these.

Michigan State and UCLA are set to do battle on Tuesday night at East Lansing. That sets up the return to the Breslin Center for former Spartan Xavier Booker , who transferred from MSU to UCLA this past offseason.

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Not all transfer portal departures are the same. Some are amicable, some are bitter, some might be a bit of both. One thing from Booker's departure seemed clear, though, in that he probably needed a change of scenery after things never seemed to click for him in two seasons at Michigan State.

Even though Booker never really lived up to that five-star status he had coming out of high school, that is no reason for any ill will. When he touches the court on Tuesday night, he deserves cheers, not boos.

Recapping Booker's MSU Career

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One thing to remember here is that Booker didn't place the lofty expectations he received on himself. Recruits don't make recruiting rankings. Plus, there can be a legitimate mental toll and whiplash that happens when you constantly get told how good you are as a five-star recruit in high school, but then you end up coming off the bench and get only 9.2 minutes per game as a freshman in college.

The hope was that Booker would make a jump during his sophomore season, but that didn't materialize either. Regardless as to why he didn't really improve, once Booker was out of the rotation entirely during MSU's NCAA Tournament run last season, it was pretty clear that the best move for his career was to go elsewhere.

At the end of the day, that's what everyone does. Players don't transfer just to transfer. Something caused Tre Holloman to think that leaving Michigan State for N.C. State was his best option, too. Even if it's because NCSU made a generous NIL offer that MSU didn't want to match, that's still a valid reason these days. Things are usually more complex than just dollars (location, family, etc.), but more money is usually better than less money.

What soured that whole situation is that Holloman almost certainly had a starting spot waiting for him at MSU --- the Spartans would 100% be a much better team with him still around --- while Booker didn't. His usage of the portal is as it should be: his career at one place just wasn't working out, so he went somewhere else to start anew. It seemed like most fans wished him the best when he left. Hopefully they wish him the best again on Tuesday.