Former FAMU and Palm Beach Community College's new AD dies
By: MARCUS NELSON, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Willie Booker, who had been the athletic director at Palm Beach Community College for slightly more than a month, was found dead Tuesday at his home near Orlando.
Mr. Booker, 64, had gone to Orlando to retrieve some of his belongings last week, but PBCC officials didn't become alarmed until he missed a Monday luncheon with coaches and other school administrators.
When Mr. Booker, who was unmarried, couldn't be reached, PBCC officials contacted some members of his family, who also didn't get a response. Family members went to his residence and found his body. No foul play is suspected, school officials said. Funeral arrangements are pending.
Coaches and athletic department employees were told of Mr. Booker's death Tuesday.
"Everybody is feeling the pain," said Quincy Moor, PBCC vice president of student services. Moore hired Mr. Booker this year. "It's a sad time for the college."
Mr. Booker took over as PBCC's athletic director July 2 and was the school's first full-time athletic director since Hamid Faquire retired in September after 21 years in the position.
"The Palm Beach Community College family was deeply saddened to learn today of the death of Dr. Willie Booker, who had joined the college July 2 as our athletic director," PBCC President Dennis Gallon said in a statement. "We will share funeral information as we receive it from the family. We send our heartfelt condolences to his family and friends and wish them comfort at this time."
Mr. Booker was at PBCC a short time, but already had made an impression with his enthusiasm for the job.
"I didn't get to know him very well, but he had great ideas for our programs," PBCC baseball coach Alex Morales said. "I was excited for him to be a part of us and we were part of him."
Mr. Booker had been an athletic administrator for more than 30 years and was also the men's basketball coach at Florida A&M from 1984-1993. The Rattlers were 137-125 under Booker and he led FAMU to its first NCAA Tournament in 1991.
"He certainly knew about winning championships," said ex-FAMU President Walter Smith, who hired Mr. Booker. "He is going to be missed in a lot of ways."
A graduate of Lakeland's Rochelle High, he was the state's first basketball All-America at St. Petersburg's Gibbs Junior College. He transferred to New Mexico State where he played football, basketball and baseball and later became an assistant basketball coach.
Mr. Booker also was the first athletic director and basketball coach at Roxbury Community College in Boston.
After he was dismissed from FAMU in 1993, he ran his own business before returning to college athletics at PBCC.
"He was icon in community colleges," said Smith, who met Mr. Booker at Gibbs. "He was special and a fine young man. The people at Palm Beach Community College and all of us have lost a good one."
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Ex-FAMU coach Booker dies at 66
TALLAHASSEE DEMOCRAT STAFF REPORT
Former Florida A&M men's basketball coach Willie Booker, who led the Rattlers to their first-ever Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament title in 1991, died over the weekend in his native Central Florida. He was 66.
Booker, a Lakeland product, fashioned a 137-125 record at FAMU from 1984-85 to 1992-93, leading the Rattlers to the finals of the MEAC Tournament four times during a five-year span between 1988 and 1992.
When he became FAMU's head coach in 1984, the Rattlers were an independent after leaving the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference following the 1982-83 school year. Booker led FAMU to 34 wins in those first three years (34-50), but the Rattlers fortunes soon changed for the better.
In the next six seasons, the Rattlers compiled a 103-75 record, which included the school's first-ever 20-win seasons in the Division I era - 22-8 in 1987-88 and 20-10 in 1988-89.
Those were FAMU's last 20-win campaigns until this past season's 21-14 finish under Coach Mike Gillespie.
FAMU reached the MEAC Tournament finals in 1988, 1989, 1991 and 1992, winning their first-ever tournament in 1991. The Rattlers advanced to an NCAA play-in game against Northeast Louisiana (now Louisiana-Monroe).
Booker's clubs produced several Black College All-American performers, including guard Aldwin Ware, who led Division I in steals in 1988; guard Terry Giles, as well as forwards Leonard King and DeLon Turner.
"We sit and talk about it and we realize just how good our teams were," said Turner, who played for Booker from 1990-1993 seasons. "Coach Booker actually gave the ability to develop the strong points in my game. He let me be down low when another coach might have saw my size and put me on the wing."
Under Booker, Turner finished his career as FAMU's second all-time leader in rebounding (9.1 rebounds a game) and the second all-time leader in points scored (1,795).
"He was a laid-back individual,” Turner said. “He didn't scream and didn't fuss. He gave us the guidelines to be an adult and handle ourselves in public."
A junior college All-America cager at the former Gibbs Junior College in St. Petersburg, Booker completed his collegiate basketball career at New Mexico State.
Prior to his arrival in Tallahassee, Booker coached on the junior college level in the Northeast, spending nine seasons at Boston's Roxbury Community College (150-37) and one season at Mercer CC (19-9) in Trenton, N.J., compiling a 169-46 record
Booker had just recently been appointed director of athletics at Palm Beach Community College and was reportedly in the process of completing his move from Orlando at the time of his passing.
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