Jemarl Baker Jr. to transfer from Arizona, per report

While the school is taking its sweet time deciding on Sean Miller’s future, at least one of Arizona’s players isn’t waiting around to see if he’s coming back.

Bruce Pascoe of the Arizona Daily Star is reporting that redshirt junior guard Jemarl Baker Jr. is “expected to transfer from the Wildcats after graduating the spring.”

Baker missed the final 14 games of the 2020-21 due to a broken bone in his wrist. Prior to that he was averaging a career-high 12 points per game that was bolstered by a 33-point performance against NAU—the most points scored by a Miller player at Arizona—and 29 in a loss at Stanford.

A former 4-star recruit who signed with Kentucky out of high school, Baker transferred to Arizona before the 2019-20 season and averaged 5.7 points and 2.3 assists in 32 games that year. He started all 12 games he played in 2020-21.

Baker would be the third Wildcat to leave the program since the season ended on March 1. Seniors Ira Lee and Terrell Brown Jr. both entered the NCAA transfer portal, opting to use their extra year of eligibility at another school, with Brown announcing Thursday he will play at Washington in 2021-22.

With Baker gone, Arizona would be back to the 13-scholarship limit including incoming freshmen Shane Dezonie, Shane Nowell and KJ Simpson. The Wildcats have also reached out to several transfers, so more roster movement could happen.