Booker still living his Hoop Dreams

When Jamie Booker finished up his high school basketball career at Portageville High School, he knew he would be playing college basketball. He didn't know how the story would change, and where it would take him. During that last year of high school basketball, Jamie signed a letter of intent to play for Three Rivers Community College in Poplar Bluff. After graduating high school, he was all set to attend TRCC, but wanted to play one more summer of AAU basketball.

Since Jamie was young for his class, he was able to play one more year of AAU in the 17 and under age division. He played for a team out of Alton, MO that he played with the previous year in the Show-Me State Games. That team qualified for the AAU National Tournament in Winston-Salem, NC, and Booker's story was about to change.

Booker had been the team's leading scorer throughout the Regional Tournaments, and was expected to do the same while in Winston-Salem, but no one could have predicted what happened next. During the first game, Jamie found himself in "the zone", and had 32 points in the first half, against a team from Detroit, MI that featured several players that had signed to major Division I programs. Jamie finished the game with 51 points, and the recruiting frenzy had begun.

Booker was staying with teammate Jason Lukefahr, and his family while at the tournament, and when they all got back to their hotel, there were more than 15 letters that had been slid under their door, and numerous messages on their hotel phone. Booker was being recruited by nearly every major Division I program, and at that point, knew that TRCC was not going to be in his future.

After a stellar performance at the AAU tournament, that earned him AAU All-American honors, Jamie returned back Jackson with the Lukefahr's with a major decision to make. Through major recruiting efforts, Jamie decided to attend the University of Washington of the Pac-10 Conference. He was going to play for new coach Bob Bender, and was going to be a long, long way from his home in Portageville.

Jamie was a part-time starter as a freshman. He was an aggressive defender and rebounder, but struggled some with his shooting and confidence on offense. He did, however, have a solid freshmen year, and by the time Jamie graduated in 1997, he was named to the Pac-10's All-Conference Honorable Mention list.

Post-graduation, he was hoping to be taken in the second round of the NBA Draft. Hoping that his hometown team, the Seattle SuperSonics, would take him in the second round, Booker's hopes faded as the Sonics took a Center from Europe with the last pick in the 1997 NBA Draft.

Jamie hired an agent, and attended workouts for over 10 NBA teams, playing alongside the likes of then high school star, Kobe Bryant. However, at 6-4, most NBA teams wanted him to play the point guard position. Jamie had always been a shooting guard, and his ball handling skills weren't quite up to the NBA level. So, when the NBA passed, Jamie looked at other ways to continue his playing career, and improve his game.

His first stop was in Billings, MT, with the Billings Rim Rockers of the IBA (International Basketball Association). He played 33 games with the Rockers, and averaged nearly 19 points a game, earning a place on the Honorable Mention list.

Jamie continued to pursue his NBA dream, and wanted to improve his ball handling, so he took a job as Jazzy J with the famed Harlem Globetrotters. His time with them was limited because he wanted to get back into competitive basketball. Jamie played the next two years with the Northwest Sports and Entertainment group, playing against Division I college teams during their exhibition games. In 2001, Jamie took his game overseas. He played in Brazil, Korea, Australia, Belgium, Mexico, and Germany, but after five years of playing overseas, and traveling, Jamie was ready to be back home in Seattle.

In February, 2007, seattlepi.com did an article on Jamie's struggles with basketball, and how he was ready to give up on playing. He got a call from his sister, who needed a heart transplant, who told him that she hasn't given up, and neither should he. With that perspective, and with his sister having a successful transplant, Jamie revived his career with the King County Royals of the ABA. A local semi-pro team, with players making $100 a game.

Jamie played well enough to get the attention of the Snohomish County Explosion, of the IBL, which is his current team. He has played three games so far for the Explosion, and is averaging 18.7 points a game. The team is 5-5, but is one of the most talented teams in the IBL, and the team averages 111 points a game.

Jamie is a much wiser and better basketball player than he was coming out of Portageville High School, but the values that have shaped his life and his story, come out of growing up in a small town, with a loving family, and great heart.