Booker to Play at SDSU

Tommy Booker Jr., the All-American tailback from Vista High School, will sign a national letter of intent to attend San Diego State University at 12:30 p.m. Thursday at Vista.

Booker, a Parade All-American and The Times’ San Diego Section back of the year, told The Times that he was going to San Diego State more than two weeks ago. However, the tailback who rushed for 2,144 yards and 26 touchdowns last season needed to convince his parents that San Diego State--a school he never officially visited--was the right choice.

Booker’s father, Tom Booker Sr., favored Arizona State, but said, “Wherever he goes, I’ll support him 100%.

“I just wanted him to take the time, without all the pressure and phone calls, to really think about his choice,” Booker Sr. said. “I knew all along that he wanted to go to San Diego. I knew it was in his best interest that he should wait awhile.”

Booker Jr., who was rated as the nation’s top high-school recruit by the Dallas Morning News, presented his father with a list of questions comparing and contrasting SDSU with Arizona State and Washington, his other possibilities.

“I can see some good things happening there (San Diego State),” Booker Sr. said after he and his wife visited SDSU Friday. “We both felt really good when we left there. I was relieved and at peace.

“I’m glad it’s San Diego. He stuck with his decision. I appreciate what he believed in.”

Among the listed items that swayed Booker in SDSU’s direction, according to his father, were:

--he felt very comfortable with the coaches;

--the weather is perfect;

--the Aztecs play on a grass field;

--he has a good chance to play a lot as a freshman, and

--he has already established himself in San Diego.

“I just tried to convince them (his parents) what was on my mind,” Booker said. “Basically, that the academics and the scholarships (at SDSU) were the same (as at ASU). That it’s up and coming, and my chances are better to play right away.”

Booker believed his parents’ visit to the university helped convince them.

“When he (his father) went down there, he talked to a lot of people,” Booker said. “He felt comfortable with them. It was all positive. There was no negative to it.

“I stuck with my decision. I didn’t want to go to another school.”