Arizona hoping to have Jemarl Baker at full strength in 2020-21 season

Oftentimes the seriousness of injuries and ailments isn't fully known until after a season is over. Arizona guard Jemarl Baker Jr. has had to deal with several injuries already in his career from a knee injury that hampered him during his time at Kentucky to a hip injury that impacted the start of his career at UA last year.

Sean Miller revealed last week, during a video interview with UA play-by-play announcer Brian Jeffries, that Baker wasn't fully healthy throughout the season as he had to deal with a knee issue. The junior guard struggled toward the end of Arizona's season and Miller believes Baker wasn't fully able to physically give the team everything he will be capable of doing in the future when he does return to top health.

"Jemarl Baker, I would say, played this season at about 80 percent," Miller said. "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.

"We're hoping we can get him to that as he's been with us for a year and having a great offseason."

Baker finished his first season with the Wildcats with some impressive stretches of games as he played both on and off the ball throughout the year. Somewhat of a 3-point specialist out of high school, Baker was able to handle the backup point guard duties for the Wildcats last season.

"Jemarl shoots the ball really well," Miller said. "He now knows our system. As you know we played him at both the point guard and the two a year ago."

As he moves forward he could fit into several different roles for UA with an influx of guards coming on board next season. Baker, who played in all 32 games this season, had one of the best assist-to-turnover ratios (3.2 to 1) in the country for players with 70 or more assists.

That versatility means he will likely see the floor quite a bit once again next season.

"I keep bringing up three guards," Miller said referencing his plan to continue using a guard-heavy rotation next season. "He's somebody that can play at any one of those three guard positions that I'm talking about. And, again, somebody who has been through a number of experiences that will really help our team and certainly ... be one our team's leaders."

The California native showed that he could contribute as a scorer throughout different times this season with one of his best games coming against Washington early in Pac-12 play as he scored 17 points that included making four 3-pointers. He had at least four assists in nine different games.