4-Star SG Jemarl Baker Commits to Kentucky over Arizona, Oregon, Others

The Kentucky Wildcats added another piece to their 2017 basketball recruiting class Tuesday, as 4-star guard Jemarl Baker announced he'll be coming to Lexington in the fall.

"I'm honored and humbled by the experience and greatly appreciate coach [John Calipari] believing in my abilities," Baker told Evan Daniels and Josh Gershon of Scout.com. "I work extremely hard, and to see it paying off means the world to me. I know I'm going to be challenged and pushed every day by the coaching staff, and it's something I look forward to. I get to compete with some of the best players on a daily basis."

Baker is Scout's No. 87 overall prospect and 20th-ranked shooting guard. He chose Kentucky over Arizona, Oregon and California, among others.     

Calipari and assistant Joel Justus visited Baker's home Friday. Arizona head coach Sean Miller, Oregon coach Dana Altman and Marquette's Steve Wojciechowski also visited Baker recently in attempt to secure his commitment.

Calipari once again seems destined to have the top-ranked recruiting class in the country. Baker is the seventh class of 2017 player to commit to Kentucky. The other six are all top-50 players, and five of them are 5-star recruits. Baker is the lowest-ranked commit by a significant margin.

That doesn't mean he's a slouch. The 6'3" guard has a ready-made shooting stroke and should provide some versatility to a Kentucky offense that sometimes relies too much on athleticism. He'll arguably be the best shooter the program has landed since Devin Booker, who was also only a 4-star prospect coming out of high school.

"Jemarl is the best shooter in the country," Earl Watson Elite program director Ryan Silver told Scout. "He has a relentless work ethic and is a proven winner."

Even if he's not an instant star like top-ranked shooting guard Hamidou Diallo, Baker should be around for a few years and develop into a reliable role player. 

 

Recruiting information courtesy of Scout.

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