Arizona transfer Jemarl Baker Jr. to continue career at Fresno State

Arizona transfer Jemarl Baker Jr. announced Monday that he will be continuing his career at Fresno State. The redshirt junior entered the transfer portal in late March after spending two seasons with the Wildcats.

A former four-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, averaging 12.0 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game while shooting 40.3 percent from the field and 34.3 percent from 3 before breaking his wrist and missing the rest of the season.

Baker is the third UA transfer to find a new home this offseason. Seniors Terrell Brown and Ira Lee landed at Washington and George Washington, respectively.

None of those teams had winning records this season (or last season), so clearly playing time/having a feature role is important to them. Brown and Baker are also moving to schools closer to home.

The Wildcats have also seen French big man Daniel Batcho enter the transfer portal, James Akinjo put his name in the NBA Draft and four-star recruit KJ Simpson reopen his recruitment.

Arizona’s next head coach will have a lot of work to do to piece a good roster together.