Kenny Booker

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Kenny Booker
Los Angeles County, California, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Listed weight185 lb (84 kg)
Career information
High schoolLong Beach Poly
(Long Beach, California)
College
Guard
Career highlights and awards
  • 1971
    )

Kenneth Arnold Booker (born November 20, 1948)[1][2] is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins from 1969 to 1971, winning a national championship in each of his two seasons of play. He played two seasons professionally in Europe.[3]

After helping his high school team win two championships, Booker went to

realtor, and has also been a high school basketball official
for over 30 years.

Early life

Booker grew up in Long Beach, California,[4] and went to high school at Long Beach Polytechnic, where he won two California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) basketball championships.[3] He was named to All-Southern California Board of Basketball all-star team as a center in 1966.[5]

He went to

forward. As a freshman, he broke into the starting lineup in late December, and was named the team's Most Promising Freshman after helping the Vikings to a conference title in 1967.[3][6] Booker received honorable mention for the All-Metropolitan Conference team that year, before being named to the second team in 1968.[6][7] He was inducted into the Vikings Hall of Champions in 2006.[3]

College career

Booker's play earned him a full

National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) titles under Wooden.[10] He sat out his initial season with UCLA in 1968–69, redshirting to preserve his remaining two years of eligibility.[11][12] In his first year of play in 1969–70, he came off the bench to curb Geoff Petrie of Princeton and Paul Westphal of USC, who were going off against the Bruins.[8] Petrie had scored 26 points in 28 minutes before Booker entered the game and held him to two free throws in the final 12 minutes.[13] Booker played significant minutes late in the season and was a top reserve.[14][15]

Booker (right) was a defensive specialist for the Bruins

As a senior in

guard to replace the graduated John Vallely in the starting lineup.[14][16][17] He was the lone new starter from the 1970 championship team, getting the nod over Andy Hill and Terry Schofield. At 6 feet 4 inches (1.93 m) and 185 pounds (84 kg), Booker was the team's best perimeter defender, and was called "a fine defensive and team player" by Wooden.[4][14][18] The Bruins started the season 14–0 before losing 89–82 to Notre Dame. Booker began the game defending the Fighting Irish's Austin Carr, who finished the game with 46 points, but Wooden then used Schofield and Larry Hollyfield instead. The coaching staff had instructed Booker to overplay Carr and expect help on defense if Carr drove to the basket. However, Wooden absolved Booker, declaring that he never received the help from the inside that was expected.[19][20] Though the loss ended a 19-game winning streak,[21] UCLA proceeded to win their next 88 games, an NCAA record.[a]

On February 6, 1971, Booker helped key a 64–60 comeback victory for No. 2 UCLA over No. 1

points in the game, making seven of 10 field goals.[22][23] For the season, Booker averaged 5.5 points and 2.6 rebounds per game, as the Bruins finished 29–1 and captured their seventh national championship in eight seasons.[24]

Professional career

After college, Booker was selected in the 14th round of the

Verbum Dei High School's basketball team, who were the defending CIF Southern Section 4-A Division champions.[29][30] He coached the school for one season before quitting, leading them to a Del Rey League championship in 1972 as well as their second-straight CIF 4-A title;[31][32] it was also the school's fourth-straight CIF championship at any level.[b] In 1975 he went to Italy,[34] and played professionally for two years in Europe.[3]

In 1988, Booker became a realtor in Long Beach with Coldwell Banker. As of 2010, he has been a high school basketball official in Southern California for over 30 years. He was named Referee of the Year by the Orange County Sports Association in 2009, and he has officiated high school volleyball matches as well.[10]

Notes

  1. ^ UCLA did not lose again until January 19, 1974, when they were defeated again by Notre Dame, 71–70.[22]
  2. ^ Verbum Dei won a 2-A championship in 1969 and a 3-A in 1970.[30][33]

References

  1. Newspapers.com.Open access icon
  2. ^ "Kenneth Arnold Booker was born on November 20, 1948 in Los Angeles County, California". californiabirthindex.org. California Birth Index. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Kenny Booker". Long Beach City College Vikings. Archived from the original on June 13, 2015.
  4. ^
    Newspapers.com.Open access icon
  5. ^ "LEWIS BROWN, VERBUM DEI JUNIOR CENTER,IS "AAAA" BASKETBALL PLAYER OF YEAR FOR 1972" (PDF) (Press release). United Savings Helms Athletic Foundation. March 22, 1972. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 4, 2016.
  6. ^
    Newspapers.com.Open access icon
  7. ^
  8. ^ Kirkpatrick, Curry (February 2, 1970). "It's More Fun Without Lew". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on August 7, 2015.
  9. ^ a b c "Remembering Coach John Wooden". California State University, Long Beach. Archived from the original on June 20, 2015.
  10. Newspapers.com.Open access icon
  11. ^
  12. ^ Reed, Billy (November 30, 1970). "The Top 20 Teams". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on May 29, 2015.
  13. Newspapers.com.Open access icon
  14. . Retrieved April 21, 2015.
  15. ^ "Wooden: Our Big Men No Help On Inside". Herald-Journal. Associated Press. p. B-1. Retrieved April 22, 2015.
  16. Newspapers.com.Open access icon
  17. ^ a b Bonk, Thomas (March 26, 1991). "Losing Never Came to Mind". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on June 6, 2022.
  18. Newspapers.com.Open access icon
  19. ^ "1971 Men's Basketball Team Celebrates 40th Anniversary" (Press release). UCLA Athletics. February 26, 2011. Archived from the original on May 29, 2015. Retrieved April 23, 2015.
  20. Newspapers.com.Open access icon
  21. ^ "2014–15 UCLA Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). UCLA Athletic Department. 2014. p. 157. Archived (PDF) from the original on February 26, 2015.
  22. Newspapers.com.Open access icon
  23. ^ a b Waters, Sean (March 26, 1995). "State Crown Signals Verbum Dei's Return to Glory". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016.
  24. Newspapers.com.Open access icon

External links