Arizona guard Jemarl Baker Jr. played last season at '70%'

Jemarl Baker Jr. played an important role for Arizona last season as he served as the backup point guard for standout freshman Nico Mannion. Thought of as more of a scorer and shooter on the perimeter, Baker fit in nicely to his role with an impressive assist-to-turnover ratio. He finished third on the team in assists (73) and the second fewest turnovers (23) of Arizona's perimeter players.

He did that while working to come back from a hip injury that he suffered before the start of the season. It impacted the Kentucky transfer in his first season with the Wildcats and that is something he can admit now.

"Last season it was pretty hard because I feel like I was at about 70%," he said during a Zoom media session with local Tucson reporters Wednesday. "I messed up my hip right before the season and that kind of trickled down to my knee being aggravated as well. So, that really hurt me defensively. I felt like I couldn't move at times."

This spring UA head coach Sean Miller felt that Baker was never able to find consistency because of the injuries. The numbers reflect that as his production fluctuated throughout the year. There were moments when he was able to impact the game in a big way as a scorer, when he hit four 3-pointers against Washington for example, and others when he was a bit more quiet.

Miller is hopeful health can add some consistency to Baker's game this season.

"He was healthy enough to not further damage his knee, but I don't know if he ever hit his stride where physically he was right there in tip top shape for the stretch run of our season," Miller said back in May. "We're hoping we can get him to that as he's been with us for a year and having a great offseason."

The extended time away from the team that has impacted all college players since the shut down of the season back in March has been positive for Baker when it comes to his health. Most years college players are on campus for most of the year with Baker estimating that he only gets to be home in California for about a month.

He has been at home since March allowing him to work at his own pace and heal all his bumps and bruises.

"This time has helped me a lot, and it's helped me get healthy," he said. "I feel really good right now, and being healthy it gives you another sense of confidence in yourself. When you're hurt, it's hard to have that confidence in every game that you go into because you just know you're not at your best."

Arizona is hopeful that its players can return to campus by next month, but for now Baker and the rest of the Wildcats are still awaiting word on when they will be allowed to return to campus to begin preparations for the upcoming season.

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