Missouri State coach who recruited Madison Booker: 'She's as good as they come'
Missouri State head coach Beth Cunningham once recruited Texas star player Madison Booker. Now they'll face off in the women's NCAA Tournament.
AUSTIN, TX — There aren’t many people in women’s basketball who don’t know Madison Booker, the leading scorer on the No. 1 seed Texas Longhorns who was named the SEC Tournament MVP and an Associated Press All-American. The head coach of Texas’ first-round NCAA Tournament opponent, Missouri State’s Beth Cunningham, might be more familiar with Booker than most.
When Cunningham was an assistant coach at Duke, she recruited Booker, who was then a five-star recruit in the class of 2023 at Germantown High in Ridgeland, Mississippi. Cunningham and Duke head coach Kara Lawson made a home visit to Booker and attempted to persuade her to go to Durham. Booker ultimately chose the Longhorns instead, but she was left with a positive impression of Cunningham.
“She was a good coach,” Booker said on Thursday. “I'm pretty sure throughout my (recruitment) process, that's when she did get the head coaching job at Missouri State. But I mean, we kind of vibed, honestly.
Like I talked to her on the phone, talked to her in person too on my visit. But yeah, we vibed and I'm happy that she got a head coaching job here at Missouri State. ” Cunningham also previously recruited Texas sophomore guard Jordan Lee, who along with Booker helped take the Longhorns to the 2025 Final Four.