“TAY BOOTHMAN READY FOR NEXT CHAPTER”
Za-Ontay “Tay” Boothman has been on the elite level Arizona basketball scene for quite a while now. As the starting point guard from one of the most successful high school programs in the state for the last few years. Boothman made an impact at Buckeye almost instantly and every year brought a little more production.
His coming out year would probably be considered his sophomore season as he teamed up with 6’5” then-junior wing Otis Frazier III to make one of the more dynamic duos in the Valley. They ended that season 24-4 on the year and gave ,then-juggernaut Shadow Mountain, the most competitive and intense half of basketball the Matadors experiences all year. The Hawks fell short in that game, but Boothman was game! It was the first time I saw that the hot-shooting guard really had a different bit of DNA in his body. He knocked down shots, defended both of Shadow’s D1 guards in Jalen House (ASU) and Jovan Blacksher Jr. (GCU) and talked to everyone the whole time he was doing it.
Boothman joined the Powerhouse Hoops 16U program that spring and summer and put college coaches all over the West Coast on notice. Division-I college coaches raved about not only his scoring ability and defensive prowness, but his toughness, moxie and leadership. His most impressive stretch came in the last tournament of the summer in Las Vegas as a very successful Powerhouse 16u team took on some of the West Coast’s shoe-program teams, including the Seattle Rotary Select, The Truth and Las Vegas Prospects. Boothman lit every one of them up in front of multiple college coaches.
For his efforts, he would come out of that summer picking up offers from Denver, Central Arkansas, Northern Arizona and Houston Baptist, with many more keeping tabs on him.
The past season was one of the more anticipated one’s in Buckeye Union High history, with big hopes of a state championship. Boothman and Frazier both lived up to the billing but the team lost a lot of their senior leadership and toughness that made them such a competitive team. They fell short in the 4A quarterfinal, despite Boothman’s very productive efforts. Though the high school season did not end the way Boothman wanted or anticipated, he was set up to have a big spring for Powerhouse Hoops UAA Rise with the band that did so much damage the previous summer and would add some pieces that could formulate to even more success.
However, Boothman would find out that he had suffered a mild shoulder injury that would put him out for a little over a month.
He returned for his first AAU tournament in Kansas City during the spring live period in April before the shoulder was fully healed and with no time for true recovery. The rust and lingering pain presented a Tay Boothman that not many recognized. The frustration with not being able to play up to his standards wore on him a little but the competitive spirit inside him would not allow him to completely shut down. So he went to work…
He returned back to normal the following month with a very strong showing in the Area Codes Elite 8 in the Desert in Phoenix and looked even better at the West Coast Elite Memorial Day Classic in Las Vegas to end the spring.
In June, he went back to play for a very new-look Buckeye Hawks team, losing his 3-year long running mate in Frazier, along with some other pieces that formed the Buckeye puzzle. Playing for a team that would rely so much on what he does over the course of a game., He had a very good showing in the Section 7 Live Period event in Phoenix, twice putting up 40+ point games and keeping Buckeye competitive.
He then approached the summer with focus and intensity. He had a very strong showing locally for the West Coast Elite Summer Tip-Off before heading to Atlanta for the UAA Rise finals in front of many college coaches that have Boothman on their recruiting board. The dog in Tay Boothman that we have come so familiar in seeing was out of the kennel once again and ready for all the dogfights that come with such a high profile AAU event.
The sharp-shooting guard has just wrapped up his last AAU showing and will now start looking into his recruitment and make a decision on where he wants to spend his college basketball career and the next 4 years of his life. He will wear a Buckeye jersey, a jersey that he has worn with so much pride for the last 3 years, for one last season and chase the state title that has always avoided him. It will be new territory for him. He will be the main focal point of every defense he see’s and is sure to face more than a few box and one defenses. However, he intends on getting his official visits out of the way and pledging his commitment to whatever program he decides to join. The options are very wide open as of now but one thing is certain, whoever lands Boothman will be getting a package that any coach would love to have in their program. On and off the court!
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