GURNEE - Brandon Paul isn't the only Gurnee Warren athletic talent headed to the University of Illinois.
The All-State basketball guard, who signed with the Illini last fall, will be followed to the UI campus in 2010 by softball center fielder Alex Booker.
The Warren junior orally committed to Terri Sullivan's softball program on March 19 after also seriously considering Missouri. The fact that Sullivan and her assistants continued to recruit the three-sport athlete after she suffered a serious knee injury in volleyball figured strongly in Booker's choice.
"Their softball staff kept their confidence in me and stuck with me even after I tore my ACL last fall," she wrote in an e-mail to The News-Gazette. "They never quit on me and knew that I could make it out of recovery better than ever, and this really showed me a lot about their character and what good people they are."
Because of the injury, Booker has yet to compete in softball this season. However, Warren coach Carri McGahan
said Thursday that Booker continues to be medically cleared for more practice activity and is expected to begin hitting against live pitching soon. McGahan projected Booker's return to the lineup within the next two weeks, although she likely will be limited initially to hitting and won't play in the field.
"She's just a natural athlete," the Blue Devils coach said. "She's very knowledgeable and a natural leader on the field. As a freshman, she was our leadoff (batter) and center fielder from the first day we had practice."
Booker displayed her high-level physical tools last year at the Pennsbury SPARQ Agility Camp in Yardley, Pa., where she ranked first overall out of 393 players. She finished among the top five in all five areas in which players were tested, including No. 1 in the 20-yard dash.
Booker earned all-conference and all-area honors during her freshman and sophomore seasons, racking up 82 hits and stealing 41 bases in 46 attempts during that span. Last spring, the left-handed batter hit .422 with a .528 on-base percentage.
Booker helped her 18-and-under summer travel team, the Lake County Liberty, win 56 of 65 games and reach the Amateur Softball Association of America national tournament last year. In 72 games with the Liberty, she has a .448 career average and .504 on-base percentage.
Booker visited the UI campus in early October.
"I could see how close knit the campus was," she said. "The players made me feel so at home when I met them at
practice on my unofficial visit."
The right-handed thrower also was impressed with Eichelberger Field, which was upgraded before the 2008 season.
"Personally, it is the best softball facility that I have seen," she said.
Illinois' membership in the Big Ten factored into her decision, too.
"I knew that I wanted to play a very competitive softball schedule somewhere," she said, "and the Big Ten is one of the best conferences in the country."
Booker indicated she will major in architecture or sports management.
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