It didn’t take Kentucky coach John Calipari long to wrap up. Jemarl Baker.
The a 6-4 shooting guard from Los Angeles (CA) Theodore Roosevelt committed to Kentucky on Tuesday after meeting with Calipari on Friday in California.
“I’m honored and humbled by the experience and greatly appreciate coach Cal believing in my abilities,” Baker told 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 recently obtained his release from Cal after the coaching change and had a list of nine schools: Kentucky, Duke, Utah, Arizona, Marquette, Maryland, Oregon, Arizona State and San Diego State.
@CoachCalipari loves our school motto so he came to see us. Also said hi to @_jeyb3 ???#ERHS @KentuckyMBB #ERHSBatGB pic.twitter.com/MqEKUeikn9
— Jeremy Goins (@jeremyegoins) April 7, 2017
Utah’s Larry Krystowiak and Oregon’s Dana Altman were in on Thursday, and Marquette’s Steve Wojciechowski came Sunday.
“Jemarl is one of the best guards in the country,” his AAU coach Ryan Silver said. “He’s a pure knock-down shooter and a proven winner with a tremendous upside.”
Kentucky now has a six-man recruiting class that includes guards Quade Green and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, forwards Jarred Vanderbilt and P.J. Washington and center Nick Richards.
They remain in the mix for Westtown (PA) big man Mohamed Bamba and Tampa (FL) Catholic small forward Kevin Knox.
The 6-11 Bamba is mulling Kentucky, Duke, Texas and Michigan.
Knox has narrowed his list to Kentucky, Duke, North Carolina and Florida State and Missouri.
