Brandon Booker ready to leave new legacy at SMU

2024 DeSoto (Tex.) linebacker Brandon Booker capped his high school career with a second straight state championship. The three-star prospect helped the Eagles to a 74-14 win over Humble (Tex.) Summer Creek in the 6A Division II State Championship.

He led the Eagles with six tackles, two tackles for loss and a sack. Going undefeated and winning it all at AT&T Stadium was special.

“It’s amazing. The two-peat, back-to-back,” Booker told On3. “All the emotions flowing through! Straight happiness. It can’t be no greater than this.

“It was amazing, going undefeated, setting records and doing stuff people had never done. It was amazing. You can’t beat it.”

To get it done, Booker and DeSoto had to overcome a lot, but most importantly, play together.

“Play as a team. Even when it came to adversity, we still played as a team,” he said. “We never pointed fingers. If you want to win, you’ve got to stick together, play together, overcome adversity every single time, and stay disciplined.”

Earlier in the season, Booker and his head coach, Claude Mathis, had a talk about what DeSoto needed from him to achieve their goals. He delivered in a big way the rest of the way.

“We had a talk in the season. Me and him just talked about that earlier,” Mathis said. “I asked him to be a better leader. I needed him to step up to the plate and he did it. His leadership took over this God dang defense and he did a great job. If you notice, anytime we get in the playoffs, Book picks up his game. He was overdue for some interceptions. He finally got them. Booker’s one of the best leaders I’ve ever had. He controls that whole defense.”

Now he’s onto SMU, where he’s excited to get to work right away.

“I’m just excited,” Booker said. “I left a great legacy and now I get to create a new one at SMU.”

After watching SMU’s defense ascend to one of the best in the country, he just wants to do his part.

“I’m just going to take my part and play my role. Be a ball player.”

According to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies, Booker is the No. 82 overall linebacker in the country and No. 137 overall prospect in Texas. He also held scholarship offers from LSU, Baylor, Oklahoma State, Florida State, Auburn, Missouri and Texas A&M.

The post Brandon Booker ready to leave new legacy at SMU appeared first on On3.