By Will Vandervort.

By Will Vandervort

No one has appreciated the hustle and effort Devin Booker has played with so far this season more than fellow senior Milton Jennings.

Booker’s 12-points and 15 rebounds against then No. 1 Duke on Jan. 8 inspired Jennings, who admitted himself he had not lived up to his own expectations for the 2012-’13 season to this point. Before the Virginia game last Saturday, Jennings told Booker he has inspired him to keep working hard and to keep believing he can get better.

That inspiration showed as Jennings dropped in 21 points and had 11 rebounds in Clemson’s 59-44 victory that afternoon.

“I looked at Devin before the game, and said, ‘I’m going to rebound as hard as you and I’m going to play as hard as you. I owe you that,’” Jennings said. “I also owed myself that being a senior and I know what I can do. So I went out and did it.”

But Booker just isn’t inspiring Jennings. His performance is also leading his younger teammates to do better. Point guard Rod Hall, a sophomore, says Booker may be quiet at times and doesn’t get all that emotional, but they notice how hard he is working to get open and to get the ball. They also notice what he is doing on the defensive end of the court and they see him cleaning up the glass, too.

“He is having a great year leading us and is having a terrific season as an individual and as a team player,” Jennings said. “I could not be happier for him.”

Six times this season Booker has led the Tigers in points and nine times in rebounds. He leads the team with 12.1 points and 8.1 rebounds per game. He also leads the team in field goal percentage, making nearly 55 percent of his shots.

“Devin Booker on some nights does a fantastic job in transition. Some nights it’s offensive rebounds,” Clemson head coach Brad Brownell said. “Some nights when it is really going, its transition, it’s offensive rebounds, then there are sets, then there is some of our offense and then all of a sudden you have a big night.”

Booker has had several big nights already this season. Five times this year, he has scored 15 or points, including 19 against Florida State on Jan. 5, and 18 against Purdue earlier in the season. Booker also had 11 rebounds against the Seminoles and put up 12 points and had 15 rebounds against Duke’s Mason Plumlee.

He also held Plumlee to eight points, while causing him to turn the basketball over six times.

“I look around, and I don’t think we have played a team yet that has a player like (Booker), except for Mason Plumlee,” Jennings said. “That’s probably about the most equal opponent this year. As far as I’m concerned, no one has a higher motor this year than Devin.

“When he wants to post up, there is no one who can stop him one-on-one in the hole.”

Wake Forest could not stop him Tuesday night. Clemson’s 6-foot-8, 250-pound center intimidated Wake’s post players as he swatted away two shots and had 12 points to go along with his eight rebounds.  He got to the foul line three times as well, making four of his five attempts.

“The good players, they go make some things for themselves,” Brownell said. “That’s where you have to work. Devin obviously is in a good place right now. He has done some of that.”

Brownell says Booker is a hard guy to read sometimes. The Clemson coach says Booker isn’t a guy that talks about stuff. He isn’t a guy that thinks a lot about this being his last go around and all of that.

“I don’t know if he is wired that way,” Brownell said. “He might be a little bit more than he lets on. I think as much as anything, when guys have success and they’re confidence goes up, all of sudden they think, ‘Maybe I can do some of these things. I can do these consistently.’

“When that happens the game becomes more enjoyable. Maybe you work a little harder and good things keep happening. You start believing a little more and you jump on a cycle and all of sudden it steam rolls.”

And who knows, maybe Booker’s actions continue to keep rubbing off on his teammates. There is strong evidence already pointing in that direction. K.J. McDaniels scored 14 points, had a career-high nine rebounds and blocked seven Wake Forest shots Tuesday, while freshman guard Adonis Filer added 13 points. Hall had five points to go along with seven assists, and freshman Jordan Roper scored nine points.

“I have tried to be more aggressive and be someone that my teammates can rely on,” Booker said. “If someone is having a bad game, I just have to step up and show them that everything is going to be alright and that we are in this together.”