Chris Lowery has Southern Illinois out in the lead in the Missouri Valley Conference and the coach is also taking charge on the recruiting trail. As of this week, the Top 25 Salukis scored their third commitment from the Class of 2008.
Joining guard Chris Parrish and wing Torres Roundtree is 6-foot-8 power forward Anthony Booker. The junior is high school teammates with Roundtree at Florissant (Mo.) McCluer North.
“I took a visit a month ago and the coaches made me feel comfortable,” Booker told Scout.com. “I like defense and I’m a defensive minded player and the coaches convinced me.”
The Salukis has been doing their share of convincing lately. Winners of 10 of their last 11 games, SIU sits at No. 15 in the recent coaches poll.
Booker averages 10 points and 9 rebounds. He was about to become a big target in his region. “It was a lot of Valley schools like Bradley, Missouri State, Illinois State and Wichita State. I had just started getting interest from some bigger schools.”
At SIU, Booker said that he’ll need to get stronger and will likely end up playing the power forward slot.