Essence Booker Joins Women’s Basketball Roster
April 20, 2020 | Women's Basketball
MUNCIE, Ind. - Ball State ninth-year head women's basketball coach Brady Sallee announced Tuesday the addition of transfer Essence Booker (Las Vegas, Nev./Nevada) to the program's 2020-21 roster. Booker joins the Cardinal family along with last week's transfer additions Krystal Rice (Flint, Michigan/Johnson County Community College) and Ella Skeens (Chillicothe, Ohio/Dayton).
"We are absolutely thrilled to welcome Essence to our Ball State family," said Sallee. "She is a tremendously talented, versatile guard that can flat out fill it up. I love the passion she plays with and cannot wait to get her to Muncie."
Booker, a 5-foot-8 guard, comes to Ball State after spending the last two seasons at the University of Nevada. She was one of the Wolfpack's top players this season, earning All-Mountain West honorable mention recognition and Mountain West Player of the Week accolades (Nov. 11). She started 30 games while leading Nevada in scoring (12.5 points per game) and total assists (73). Booker scored in doubles figures 21 times this season, including a stretch of 12 games in a row from Jan. 18-Feb. 27. She ended the year with a positive assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.2-to-1. Successful on and off the court, Booker was Mountain West Scholar-Athlete and a member of the Mountain West All-Academic Team while playing in 30 games as a true freshman. She owns 557 career points and will have two years of eligibility remaining at Ball State.
Prior to Nevada, Booker was a four-time letterwinner at Spring Valley High School in Las Vegas, where she claimed three second-team all-state honors and two first-team all-conference selections. Booker was named first-team all-region her freshman year while being voted the most valuable player for her conference. She was also selected three times to the Las Vegas Sun Super Seven. Booker helped the Grizzlies to a state title in 2015 and back-to-back conference championships in 2015 and 2016. She ended her career at Spring Valley averaging 16.8 points, 6.0 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 4.3 steals per game. She was also a Gatorade Player of the Year nominee.
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