Askia Booker

Askia Toussaint Booker[1] (born August 31, 1993) is an American professional basketball player for the Shenzhen Aviators of the Chinese Basketball Association. He played college basketball for the Colorado Buffaloes as a point guard. In his senior year in 2014–15, he earned second-team all-conference honors in the Pac-12.

Askia Booker

Booker with the Colorado Buffaloes in 2014
Shenzhen Aviators
Position	Point guard
League	Chinese Basketball Association
Personal information
Born	August 31, 1993 Inglewood, California
Nationality	American
Listed height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Listed weight	170 lb (77 kg)
Career information
High school	Price (Los Angeles, California)
College	Colorado (2011–2015)
NBA draft	2015 / Undrafted
Playing career	2015–present
Career history
2015	Arkadikos
2015–2017	Bakersfield Jam / Northern Arizona Suns
2017–2018	Delaware 87ers
2018	Real Betis Energía Plus
2018–2020	UCAM Murcia
2020–present	Shenzhen Aviators
Career highlights and awards
Second-team All-Pac-12 (2015)

High school career

Booker attended Price High School. As a junior, he averaged 13 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists to lead Price to the Division IV championship. He was ranked 30th in the nation at his position by ESPN.[2] Booker committed to the Colorado Buffaloes to play for Tad Boyle on October 29, 2010.[3]

College career

As a freshman, Booker helped lead Colorado to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 2002–03 season. He averaged 9.1 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 1.4 assists in 21.5 minutes per game.[2]

As a sophomore, Booker was one of two players to start all 33 games, along with Spencer Dinwiddie. He averaged 12.4 points, 2.2 assists, and 1.2 steals per game.[2]

As a junior, he hit a buzzer beater against KU. He was named a Pac-12 honorable mention.[4]

As a senior in 2014–15, Booker was voted second-team All-Pac-12.[5] Although Colorado accepted an invitation to play in the College Basketball Invitational, Booker decided to skip the postseason tournament.[6]

Professional career

After going undrafted in the 2015 NBA draft, Booker joined the Philadelphia 76ers for the 2015 NBA Summer League. On August 13, 2015, he signed with Arkadikos for the 2015–16 Greek Basket League season.[7] However, he was released by Arkadikos in mid-October after appearing in just two games. On October 31, 2015, he was selected by the Maine Red Claws with the 10th overall pick in the 2015 NBA Development League Draft,[8] only to be traded to the Bakersfield Jam in a three-team draft night deal.[9] In 47 games for the Jam in 2015–16, he averaged 12.8 points, 3.1 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game.[10]

In July 2016, Booker joined the Phoenix Suns for the 2016 NBA Summer League.[11] On October 31, 2016, he was re-acquired by the now Northern Arizona Suns.[12] In the team's season opener on November 12, 2016, Booker scored 15 points in a 122–106 win over the Iowa Energy.[13]

On December 28, 2017, Booker was traded alongside a fourth round draft pick to the Delaware 87ers for Jerrelle Benimon.

On February 20, 2018, Booker signed a contract with Real Betis Energía Plus of the Spanish Liga ACB.[14]

On July 24, 2018, Booker signed a one-year deal with UCAM Murcia of the Liga ACB.[15]

On September 30, 2020, Booker signed with the Shenzhen Aviators of the Chinese Basketball Association.[16]

Career statistics

Professional

Legend

GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field goal percentage	3P%	3-point field goal percentage	FT%	Free throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high

Europe

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2015-16	Arkadikos B.C.	2	2	25.6	.143	.091	1.000	5.0	4.0	0.0	0.0	5.0
2017-18	Real Betis Energía Plus	14	10	24.2	.479	.255	.875	2.6	2.7	0.6	0.0	15.0
2018-19	UCAM Murcia	15	1	21.5	.373	.319	.711	1.5	2.7	0.6	0.0	8.7

NBA G League

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2015-16	Bakersfield Jam	47	0	20.7	.462	.333	.756	3.1	3.5	0.7	0.0	12.8
2016-17	Northern Arizona Suns	42	40	31.7	.396	.347	.709	4.0	5.3	1.2	0.1	15.5
2017-18	Suns & 87ers	36	34	31.8	.409	.321	.810	4.0	6.0	1.6	0.1	15.6

College

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2011–12	Colorado	35	1	21.5	.402	.372	.762	2.7	1.4	0.7	0.0	9.1
2012–13	Colorado	33	33	31.8	.395	.312	.704	3.5	2.2	1.2	0.0	12.4
2013–14	Colorado	35	35	30.5	.389	.272	.818	3.7	3.3	1.3	0.1	13.7
2014–15	Colorado	31	28	30.2	.387	.329	.834	3.3	3.2	1.4	0.1	17.2
Career		134	97	28.4	.384	.316	.792	3.3	2.5	1.2	0.0	13.0

References

1. "Askia Toussaint Booker was born on August 31, 1993 in Los Angeles County, California". californiabirthindex.org. California Birth Index. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
2. "#0 Askia Booker". Colorado Buffaloes. Colorado University. Retrieved March 13, 2014.
3. "Askia Booker recruiting profile". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 31, 2015.
4. Krause, David (March 10, 2014). "Josh Scott, Askia Booker honored by Pac-12". 9News.com. Archived from the original on March 14, 2014. Retrieved March 13, 2014.
5. "2014-15 Pac-12 Conference Men's Basketball Honors" (Press release). Pac-12. March 9, 2015. Archived from the original on March 9, 2015.
6. "Colorado's Askia Booker skips CBI". ESPN.com. March 17, 2015. Archived from the original on March 17, 2015.
7. "ΣΤΟΝ ΑΡΚΑΔΙΚΟ Ο ASKIA BOOKER!". ArcadikosBC.gr (in Greek). August 13, 2015. Retrieved August 13, 2015.
8. "2015 NBA D-League Draft Board". NBA.com. October 31, 2015. Archived from the original on October 22, 2016. Retrieved October 31, 2015.
9. "Bakersfield Jam Acquire Six Players in 2015 NBA D-League Draft". OurSportsCentral.com. October 31, 2015. Retrieved October 31, 2015.
10. "Askia Booker D-League Stats". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved November 2, 2016.
11. "Suns Announce NBA Summer League 2016 Roster". NBA.com. July 1, 2016. Retrieved July 1, 2016.
12. "Northern Arizona Suns Set Training Camp Roster". NBA.com. October 31, 2016. Archived from the original on December 21, 2016. Retrieved November 2, 2016.
13. "Suns cruise past Energy to open inaugural season". NBA.com. November 12, 2016. Retrieved November 13, 2016.
14. "Real Betis Energia Plus signs Askia Booker". Sportando.basketball. February 21, 2018. Retrieved April 2, 2018.
15. "ACB.COM - Askia Booker, talento y puntos para el UCAM Murcia CB". www.acb.com (in Spanish). 24 July 2018. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
16. "Askia Booker apunta al Shenzhen chino". Piratas del Basket (in Spanish). September 30, 2020. Retrieved October 2, 2020.

External links

• Colorado bio
• Basketball-Reference profile