Feb. 24, 2010
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When Barry Booker signed to play basketball at Vanderbilt before the 1985-86 season, he knew he’d spend the next four years traveling from city to city in the Southeastern Conference, but he had no idea he’d remain so closely tied to the conference 25 years later.
At Vanderbilt Booker was known as the sharpshooting guard who was the SEC’s all-time career leader in three-point field-goal percentage. Booker still holds the mark, but instead of being known as the player who holds the record, most basketball fans in the SEC know Booker as the television analyst for SEC basketball.
Since 1994, Booker has been a fixture in the living rooms of SEC basketball fans. However, when Booker graduated from Vanderbilt in 1989, a career in broadcasting seemed like a long shot.
“I certainly had the interest in broadcasting and thought it would be really cool and really interesting to be able to do it,” Booker said. “I just had no idea how to begin to get into the field.”
Booker’s odds for working in the broadcasting industry significantly improved in 1993 when he was working at BellSouth. It was then that longtime Nashville sports reporter Rudy Kalis from WSMV-TV Channel 4 asked Booker to help out at a halftime show for a Vanderbilt game at Memphis and again at a postseason wrap-up show for all the local teams.
“I just thought Barry would be a natural on camera, and his name was well known in the area,” Kalis said.
Kalis’ thoughts were correct.
“After I was on TV, several people said, ‘You really do well on TV, and you should look at getting into that,'” Booker said. “I thought that would be great, but I had no idea even how to look ‘into that.'”
Fortunately for Booker, he didn’t need to know how to look into broadcasting.
“That summer I got a call from Jimmy Rayburn at Jefferson Pilot Sports, and he said he’d gotten my name from a couple of different sources and wanted me to come over and do an audition in Charlotte,” Booker said. “They were looking for some analysts for the SEC broadcasts. I did an audition, and they picked me up that year.”
Booker’s first game was Auburn at LSU with Tim Brando. Although it has been years since the game, it is one he will never forget.
“Just the memories of being so nervous is something I’ll never forget,” Booker said. “I was just shy of five years out of Vanderbilt, so I had a bunch of friends get together in Atlanta for a Barry Booker viewing party.”
Since that first game, Booker’s nerves have never been to that point again, but what remains is an excitement for every game.
“I don’t think I was ever as nervous as I was for that first one,” Booker said. “The nerves have definitely subsided, but I’m still excited and fired up as each game begins. The games start and the nerves are completely gone. I’m just relaxed and doing my thing.”
Since getting his start with Jefferson Pilot Sports in 1994 Booker has not only been a constant voice in SEC basketball, he also has been advancing in the business world. Booker received his undergraduate degree in economics and returned to earn his MBA from Vanderbilt in 1997. For the past 4½ years Booker has served as a relationship manager at Wells Fargo in Nashville, where he advises clients on financial services Wells Fargo provides.
In addition to broadcasting basketball games and working at Wells Fargo, Booker is also a husband and father of two boys. Trying to balance all three between the months of November and March can be a challenge.
“It just kind of takes me back to 20 years ago when I was a student-athlete and you are just going constantly,” Booker said. “You don’t really think about it … every day is just another day.”
The balancing act is especially challenging for midweek games when Booker is on the road for a night or two for games.
“For a mid-week game, they are almost always at night, so I usually travel on gameday, but if I’m driving, I’ll drive up late the night before,” Booker said. “You just try to make it to the next day no matter where that next day takes you, whether it is work at the bank, on TV or being at home. The travel is the only tough part. Being away from the family and having a real job to get back to and take care of can make it challenging.”
Even though Booker has been at his craft for 17 seasons, he still feels as though he is learning something new and improving each year.
“I know that I am a better analyst today than I was five years ago, and hopefully I’ll be clearly better two or three years from now than I am right now,” Booker said. “Just understanding the game, understanding how to communicate to the audience in a way that is clear, concise and understandable are things I hope to improve each year.”
Booker’s time spent broadcasting has kept him close to the game he loves, but what he enjoys most are the relationships he’s built along the way.
“I say the best part of it is getting to know the people, being around the coaches, the players, the referees and everybody that is involved in SEC basketball,” Booker said. “I’m just very pleased to be a part of it and get to continue my participation for the last 25 years since my first season at Vanderbilt.”
Although the schedule can be difficult to manage at times, Booker feels right at home in the SEC and would be no where else.
“I have been an SEC fan all of my life. It doesn’t feel like work. I still have a lifelong history of watching these teams and being very interested in the programs and what is going on with these particular teams. It’s a lot of fun.”