Ohio State Overview: Dante Booker played in 46 games during his Ohio State career and started seven times … a shoulder issue in 2017 and a knee injury in 2016 kept him from more playing time, but he came back as a senior in 2018 to play in 13 games for the Buckeyes … he finished with 74 career tackles, including 9.0 tackles for losses totaling 46 yards … a four-year Varsity O letterwinner, Booker’s best year statistically was in 2017 when he had 31 tackles, including 5.0 TFLs … recorded his first career interception in the win over Rutgers that year, and had a career-high seven tackles vs. Nebraska and had career-highs of four solo tackles vs. Indiana and Rutgers … Booker played in 11 games as a true freshman for the 2014 College Football Playoff national champions, including 21 plays vs. No. 1 Alabama in the Allstate Sugar Bowl and 20 plays vs. Wisconsin in the Big Ten championship game … he was also a part of Ohio State teams that won Big Ten championships in 2014, 2017 and 2018, and bowl game wins over No. 8 Notre Dame (2016 Fiesta Bowl), No. 8 USC (2018 Cotton Bowl) and No. 9 Washington (2019 Rose Bowl) … he also played in four victories over Michigan and was red-shirting during another victory … was a high school teammate of Buckeye wide receiver Parris Campbell … he graduated in spring 2017 with his degree in sports industry … he spent a week in Equador in May 2017 as part of the Athletic Department’s involvement with the Soles4Souls program, a community service and goodwill effort dedicated to fighting poverty through the distribution of shoes and clothing … he was an Academic all-Big Ten honoree in 2015 and an OSU Scholar-Athlete in 2014.
More on Dante: The 2013 Ohio Mr. Football, Dante Booker was considered one of the very best players in the nation with a five star rating from 247Sports and a No. 13 overall ranking … the first defensive player to win Ohio Mr. Football since Andy Katzenmoyer in 1995, Booker was rated the No. 2 outside linebacker by 247Sports, the No. 4 OLB by Scout and the No. 4 inside linebacker by Rivals … ESPN rated him No. 8 on the outside … additionally: he was a Top 100 player nationally by Rivals and Scout and No. 130 on the ESPN 300 … Associated Press Division III all-state in 2012 and 2013, and the defensive player of the year in 2013 … totaled 126 tackles as a senior and lead St. Vincent-St. Mary to back-to-back state championships, including a perfect, 15-0 record in 2013 and a 13-2 mark in 2012 … also had 24 tackles-for-loss, eight sacks and two interceptions for coach Dan Boarman’s Fighting Irish as a senior … named in 2013 a Parade All-American, USA Today All-American, U.S. Army All-American, the Akron Beacon Journal player of the year and the Greater Cleveland Sports Awards’ high school athlete of the year … is the son of Nicole Hartman and Dante Booker Sr. … father played collegiately at Auburn and in the Canadian Football League.