Where did Devin Booker go to college? Exploring Suns star's progression to NBA

Devin Booker is on fire for the Phoenix Suns. He scored 47 points on 19 of 27 shooting to lead the Suns to a 136-130 victory in Game 5 against the Clippers. The Suns will now move on to the Western conference second round against the Denver Nuggets.

DEVIN BOOKER HAS 41 PTS 🗣️

HE'S IN #PLAYOFFMODE

📺: TNT | Game 5 | PHX Leads 3-1 https://t.co/GzQhPfV8hT

Booker has ascended to the top tier of the NBA. He is a 3-time All-Star and was All-NBA First Team in 2022. The 26-year-old won a gold medal with Team USA at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics. He also had success in college at Kentucky. Let’s take a look at Booker’s journey to the NBA.

Booker’s journey to the NBA started from birth

Booker’s father Melvin was a basketball player in his own right. Melvin was a college basketball star at Missouri. He spent some time in the NBA, appearing in 32 games. He also played professionally in Italy, Turkey and Russia.

Devin Booker played youth basketball with fellow NBA players D’Angelo Russell and Tyler Ulis. In his junior season of high school, Booker was named Mississippi Gatorade Player of the Year. He was also named a McDonald’s All American.

He was a top-30 prospect nationally coming out of high school and a five-star recruit. Booker chose to play his college ball at Kentucky. He chose the Wildcats over offers from North Carolina, Duke, Florida, Michigan, Michigan State, Mississippi State and Missouri.

Devin Booker is the 1st player in NBA history with at least 45 points and 10 assists in a series-clinching win. https://t.co/Rvsw0TlrDR

Devin played one season with Kentucky before declaring for the NBA Draft. The Kentucky roster that season was stacked with NBA talent. Karl-Anthony Towns, Trey Lyles, Willie Caulie-Stein and Dakari Johnson all declared for the draft alongside Booker following the season.

Booker played in 38 games and came off the bench. He was a part of a Kentucky team that completed a perfect regular season and ended 38-1, losing to Wisconsin in the Final Four. He averaged 10.0 points and 2.0 rebounds per game in 21.5 minutes per game. He was named Southeastern Conference Sixth Man of the Year. Booker scored a season high 19 points against Texas-Arlington.

The 26-year-old was drafted by the Suns in the first round of the 2015 NBA draft with the 13th overall pick. He was named to the NBA All Rookie First Team following the season. He has averaged 20.0+ points per game in every season since his rookie year.

Booker led the Suns to the 2021 NBA Finals where they lost 2-4 to the Milwaukee Bucks. In 2022, he had a career high 27.8 ppg this season, but only played in 53 games due to injury.