Devin Booker

In the Laurel MLK Shootout, Booker scored 54 points against Northeast Jones High School, falling nine shy of Litterial Green's Moss Point record for most points in a game, set in 1988.

He followed up that performance with 32 points, including a game-winning three-pointer, against Murrah High School and was named ESPNHS.com's Southeast Player of the Week.

At that time, his father told reporters that Booker was drawing interest from Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Florida, Alabama, Georgetown, Michigan and Missouri.

Booker was limited to just 14 points, with no field goals made in the second half, in a 57–55 win over Gautier High School in the opening round of the Division 7-5A tournament.

In the championship game against Pascagoula High School, Booker was held to single-digit scoring (8) for only the second time in the season as Moss Point lost 48–32, setting up an away game with defending state champion Wayne County High School in the first round of the South State playoffs.

Wayne County focused their defense on Booker, holding him to a single, first-quarter free throw, en route to a 57–37 victory that ended Moss Point's season.

For the year, Booker averaged 22.8 points per game and was named the South Mississippi Player of the Year by the Sun Herald, becoming just the second sophomore to be awarded the honor.

In the announcement, the paper reported that Booker held scholarship offers from Ole Miss, Alabama, Georgetown, Michigan and South Alabama.

In the summer following his sophomore year, Booker played in the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League and participated in the Elite 100 Camp, the LeBron James King's Academy Camp, and the Kevin Durant Nike Skills Camp.

These commitments caused him to miss the inaugural South Mississippi All-Star Basketball Showcase in May.

With most of Moss Point's experienced players graduating, Booker switched to point guard for his junior year.

In an early December game, Booker outscored the entire Ocean Springs High School team 40–39 through three quarters en route to a 48-point finish as Moss Point won 100–55.

He followed up this performance with a 30-point outing, including 7 three-pointers, in a win over 54–37 win over Laurel High School in the second annual Melvin Booker Shootout, named in honor of his father.

The following week, Booker left a game against Harrison Central High School in the third quarter with a sprained MCL; he had scored just 9 points, but grabbed 7 rebounds.

Booker's injury proved minor, and did not hamper him in Moss Point's next game, where he scored 26 points in a 52–48 loss to Davidson High School in the Jackie Laird Christmas Classic at Biloxi High School.

On the second day of the Classic, Booker scored a season-high 49 points in an 80–65 win over Brewbaker Technology Magnet High School, a performance that added Duke to the list of schools recruiting him.

In early January, Moss Point went 1–2 in the Poplar Bluff showdown in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, defeating Memphis' Kirby High School but losing to Maplewood Richmond Heights High School and host Poplar Bluff High School.

University of Missouri fans attended en masse to cheer for Booker, who averaged 30.2 points over Moss Point's three games, hoping to entice him to play for the Tigers.

Booker scored a game-high 32 points in a 58–56 loss to Gulfport High School, the top-ranked team in Mississippi, in Moss Point's final game before divisional play, dropping the team's record to 6–11.

Moss Point went 3–3 in Division 7-5A, finishing the divisional season with a 51–40 victory over Gautier High School.

Booker, who struggled with his outside shot due to a wrap on his injured right wrist, hit all 17 of his free throws en route to a game-high 30 points in the win.

Booker is the son of Veronica Gutiérrez, a cosmetologist, and Melvin Booker, who was named the 1994 Big Eight Player of the Year while a point guard at Missouri.

His parents met while his father was playing basketball for the Continental Basketball Association's Grand Rapids Hoops in Gutiérrez's hometown of Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Booker was born and raised in Grand Rapids, living with his mother, who is reportedly of Mexican and Puerto Rican descent while his African-American father pursued a professional basketball career internationally.

He visited his father regularly during the summer.

At age 12 while visiting him in Milan, he played one-on-one with Danilo Gallinari, then teammate of his father's at Olimpia Milano.

Booker was taught by his father that having basketball IQ was just as important as natural athleticism.

During his time in middle school, Booker became friends with future fellow NBA players D'Angelo Russell and Tyler Ulis.

After playing for the freshman, junior varsity and varsity basketball teams during his freshman year at Grandville High School in Michigan, Booker moved to Mississippi to live with his father after the latter's retirement from professional basketball.

Devin Armani Booker (born October 30, 1996) is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA).

He enrolled at Moss Point High School, where his father was hired as an assistant coach, in August 2011.

In his team's fifth game of the season—a 52–32 loss to Gulfport High School—Booker scored more points (17) than the rest of his teammates combined (15).

In December, he hit a buzzer beater from just beyond half court to beat Harrison Central High School, improving Moss Point's record to 4–6 on the year.

By early January, Press-Register sportswriter Creg Stephenson opined, "Sophomore guard Devin Booker has developed into one of the top players on the coast in his first season with the [Moss Point] Tigers' varsity, averaging 22.7 points per game."

After playing college basketball for one season with the Kentucky Wildcats, Booker was selected by the Suns in the first round of the 2015 NBA draft with the 13th overall pick.

In 2017, at 20 years old, he became the youngest player to score over 60 points in a game, finishing with a Suns franchise record 70 against the Boston Celtics.

In 2019, at 22 years old, Booker became the youngest player in NBA history with consecutive 50-point games.

The son of former basketball player Melvin Booker, Devin is a four-time All-Star and helped the Suns reach the NBA Finals in 2021.

The following season, he was named to the All-NBA First Team and helped lead the Suns to a franchise record of 64 wins.

Booker also won a gold medal on the 2020 U.S. Olympic team in Tokyo.