Madison Booker Earns AP Honors As Texas Star Closes In On 2,000 Points

Madison Booker isn’t entering the season hoping to earn a place among college basketball’s biggest names. She’s already there, and another national honor reinforces just how much Texas can expect from its star forward.

Booker was named to the Associated Press preseason All-America team Thursday, earning the distinction for the third consecutive season.

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The Texas women’s basketball standout joins Vanderbilt’s Mikayla Blakes, Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo, UConn’s Sarah Strong and USC’s JuJu Watkins on the five-player team.

Texas coach Vic Schaefer doesn’t need much convincing about where Booker belongs.

“In my mind, Madison Booker is the best player in the country,” Schaefer said.

The voting reflected considerable agreement about her place among the elite. Booker received 28 votes from the AP’s 31-member panel, matching Hidalgo and trailing only Strong’s 30.

For the Longhorns, the recognition comes with a compelling milestone approaching. Booker enters the season with 1,969 career points, leaving her 31 shy of 2,000.

That scoring total is only part of what makes her valuable.

Booker also has 699 rebounds, 431 assists and 199 steals in her Texas career. She’s one rebound from 700 and one steal from 200, putting several statistical landmarks within immediate reach.

Those numbers describe a player who can influence possessions without taking every shot. She can create offense, finish a defensive stand with a rebound and turn an opponent’s mistake into another Texas opportunity.

That versatility matters when defenses build their game plans around slowing her down.

Booker’s passing gives the Longhorns another way to punish extra attention, while her rebounding keeps her involved when scoring chances aren’t available.

She averaged 18.9 points, 6.7 rebounds and 3.7 assists last season, helping Texas reach a second consecutive Final Four. She also shot better than 50 percent from the field, bringing efficient production to a demanding role.

Her career shooting mark stands at 47.8 percent. Add three Cheryl Miller Awards as the nation’s top small forward, and the preseason recognition looks like a reflection of sustained performance rather than projection.

Still, October honors won’t settle anything once the games begin. Booker will face the challenge familiar to established stars: meeting enormous expectations while helping her teammates succeed.

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Texas has every reason to believe she can handle it.

The next scoring milestone is close. The larger question is how far Booker can carry the Longhorns during a season that begins with her firmly established among the nation’s best.