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Arizona junior guard Jemarl Baker Jr. eager to jump into leadership role

At a place like Arizona roles can change every season for players who stick around and stay beyond one season. The Wildcats might have found some stability by bringing in a group of international players and newcomers who could be on campus for a while after another season filled with early departures.

Until that newcomer group gets settled, however, there will be more changes afoot with one player who is likely to see himself in a different role this season being redshirt junior guard Jemarl Baker Jr. The Kentucky transfer served as Nico Mannion's primary backup at the point guard spot last season but he was also able to play off the ball where he has been most comfortable throughout his career.

Sean Miller's team has more available ball handlers this year meaning Baker is likely to see more time off the ball, but with a three-guard lineup being the focus for the UA head coach there will still be plenty of opportunities for the Wildcats' guard to be in a position to make plays.

Rather than focus on how he will get his touches and work through what has become an abundance of perimeter players this year, Baker is focused on how he can help the team from a different perspective.

"Just being a leader," he said last week while discussing the offseason with local Tucson reporters during a Zoom media session. "We haven't been on the court or anything like that, so we haven't been able to see how we fit or see how everything goes. I'm looking forward to having a healthy season this year, and this is going to be, hopefully, my first healthy season in college basketball. So, just being able to showcase everything that I can do at a high level is what I'm looking forward to, and other than that just being a leader.

"As somebody that's played in really big games and somebody that's been through it just trying to lead and trying to win. Hopefully win a national championship here."

There are a lot of new pieces to the puzzle for the Wildcats and those players far outnumber the returns Miller will have on his roster this year. The coronavirus pandemic has meant a lack of in-person work this spring and summer so most of what Baker knows about his team this year has come through virtual interactions.

"Everybody on the team seems like really good people, seems like people that I would want to play with for sure and I'm just looking forward to getting on the court and putting it all together to see what we can do," he said.

Miller's ultimate goal this season is to have Baker as one of the players who can fill out the three-guard lineup that the Wildcats are likely to lean on heavily. His experience and success as a point guard last year should help him, but he won't be left to initiate the offense as much when he is on the floor in his second year with the Wildcats.

"Jemarl shoots the ball really well," Miller said in the spring. "He now knows our system. As you know we played him at both the point guard and the two a year ago. ... I keep bringing up three guards. He's somebody that can play at any one of those three guard positions that I'm talking about."

UA will again be a young team with experience being limited across the board for most of the expected contributors. However, Baker has been through the battles with the Wildcats already and that is working in his favor.

"Somebody who has been through a number of experiences that will really help our team and certainly ... be one our team's leaders," Miller added.

Baker was injured early last season and it is something that lingered throughout the year. He remains hopeful that his health issues are behind him and that he can move forward and help the team achieve its goals as he begins to settle in with the Wildcats in Year 2 in Tucson.

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