Kentucky bolsters No. 1 ranked class with addition of former Cal commit

The rich get richer as John Calipari adds 4-star guard as seventh member of Cats' 2017 class

Kentucky’s top-ranked recruiting class received a big boost Tuesday when 4-star prospect Jemarl Baker verbally committed to John Calipari’s Wildcats.

Baker, a 6-foot-4 shooting guard from Los Angeles, is ranked as the  No. 73 overall prospect in the 2017 class and the No. 16 prospect at his position nationally by 247Sports.

Originally committed to California, Baker reopened his recruitment at the end of March after Bears coach Cuonzo Martin took the same position at Missouri.

That’s when Kentucky, Oregon, Marquette, Arizona, Maryland and Utah became involved, according to ESPN. Calipari visited Baker on Friday and extended a scholarship offer over the weekend.

Baker is the seventh member of a talent-rich Kentucky class, and one of only two Lexington-bound recruits not rated a 5-star prospect by 247Sports. He joins a class headlined by Hamidou Diallo, who spent his spring semester sitting on the Kentucky bench. Five-star prospects Nick Richards, Quade Green and Jarred Vanderbilt are also big names in this Kentucky class, which ranks just ahead of UCLA, Arizona, Alabama and Duke.