This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

The case for Devontae Booker's return to Utah, fully documented, might have been as thick as the wads of cash he passed up.

To wit:

• Booker received a "Go back to school" assessment from the NFL's draft advisory board.

• Of roughly 18 running backs who might have rationally declared early, 14 chose to do so, crowding the field.

• Rather than spending this spring whittling one-tenth of a second off his 40 time, Booker has been homing in on a bachelor's in sociology that can serve him and his family long after he's done playing football.

But Booker's dad, Ronnie, said another reason might have been enough on its own: Utah was patient with his son. He can be patient, again, for Utah.

"He felt like, 'You know what? I want to give them one more year.'"

It's a wonder that Booker, by 22, was part of the draft discussion at all, given his history of slow starts.

He spent much of his sophomore season at Sacramento's Grant Union High, remarkably, on the junior varsity bench.

His junior season was like his first year at the U. Booker wasn't a starter in Game One but became a workhorse as Grant Union won the state title, and he then rumbled for a mind-boggling 2,884 yards and 45 touchdowns as a senior.

Yet he found himself back at the end of the line when he was ruled an academic nonqualifier by Washington State and Fresno State.

His girlfriend since ninth grade, Destiny Mathews, said Booker considered giving up football and getting a job before signing with nearby American River College, where he rushed for 1,472 yards as a sophomore in 2012.

The U. offered, he committed ... and then he narrowly failed to qualify, again.

While he sat out the 2013 season and became a father in July, Utah waited. Booker was thankful for that. But when he finally arrived for spring ball in 2014, he wasn't sure it was the right fit.

He'd call his dad twice a day, Ronnie estimates, and hear the same refrain: "'Look, your time will come, because you have a God-given talent, and anybody can see that,'" Ronnie said.

"He finally called me after a month and said, 'Dad, I'm going to be alright.'"

Obviously, he was.

After rushing for 178 yards against Washington State, Booker became the engine of Utah's offense. He not only finished first-team all-conference on the field, but in the classroom, as well.

Running backs coach Dennis Erickson acknowledges now that they were slow to realize what they had in Booker, but he thinks Booker is better for having had to earn it. Now Booker is billed by the U. as a preseason Heisman Trophy candidate — Utah's first since John White IV followed a 1,519-yard junior season with a disappointing 1,041-yard senior campaign in 2012.

White told The Tribune in January that he feels he might have been drafted if he'd declared as a junior. Still, the Edmonton Eskimos back said he had no regrets.

And he foresaw a big senior year for Booker.

Booker returned to Sacramento after rushing for 162 yards in the Las Vegas Bowl. He picked the brains of Erickson, Grant Union head coach Mike Alberghini and American River head coach Jon Osterhout, among others.

Sometimes, when it all became too much, he said, he'd go into a dark room, shut off his phone and turn on Netflix.

Erickson suspects he was never all that close to declaring. But Booker said it wasn't easy on him to wonder if he was making the best decision for his family.

When he's home, Mathews said, Booker spends every waking minute with his son — taking him to the skating rink, the park, the movies.

"He's the perfect dad," she said.

But he can't provide much as a student-athlete. He pays rent, utilities and cable. He sends a little home. And then he's "kind of broke," Booker said.

He asked his family, "Can we wait another 10 months?" They ultimately decided that finishing his degree and being a member of the 2016 draft class is better not only for him, and for Utah, but for Deashon.

Even without an NFL paycheck, he still has the priceless moments when he's able to speak to Mathews and Deashon on FaceTime, the sound of which sends the 2-year-old running in from the next room squealing "Dad! Dad! Dad! Dad!"

Deashon is a spitting image. He runs like his dad, Mathews said, and he's left-handed like his dad. Joked Mathews: "He has nothing from me."

Booker hopes their son will one day play football. Mathews would prefer that he doesn't.

Deashon, like Devontae, may have to be patient.

mpiper@sltrib.com Twitter: @matthew_piper —

About Devontae Booker

Measurements • 5-foot-11, 212 pounds

High school • Rushed for 1,850 yards and 36 touchdowns as a junior, leading Grant Union to a state title, and

rushed for 2,884 yards and 45 touchdowns as a senior.

Junior college • Rushed for 793 yards and 12 touchdowns on 100 carries as a freshman at American River College. Rushed for 1,472 yards and 15 touchdowns as a sophomore.

At Utah • Rushed for 1,512 yards and 10 touchdowns, caught 43 passes for 306 yards and two touchdowns, and was named to both All-Pac-12 and All-Pac-12 Academic first teams.

Junior running backs who declared for the draft • Boise State's Jay Ajayi, USC's Buck Allen, TCU's B.J. Catalon, Indiana's Tevin Coleman, South Carolina's Mike Davis, Wisconsin's Melvin Gordon, Georgia's Todd Gurley, Colorado State's Dee Hart, Kentucky's Braylon Heard, Miami's Duke Johnson, Florida's Matt Jones, Mississippi State's Josh Robinson, Texas A&M's Trey Williams, Alabama's T.J. Yeldon