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A Prized Recruit Shows the Shoe Circuit Is Not the Only Path

Xavier Booker, in an unusual move, is sidestepping the carnival of tournaments put on by shoe companies to showcase elite men’s basketball players.

Xavier Booker is not playing in any of July’s marquee recruiting events run by Nike, Adidas and Under Armour.Credit...Jacob Langston for The New York Times

LAS VEGAS — Few could have foreseen Xavier Booker, who as a sophomore barely got off his high school team’s bench, in his current position: being scrutinized by N.B.A. scouts and recruited by Kansas, Kentucky, Gonzaga, Duke, Michigan State, Michigan, Indiana and a cadre of others.