Recruiting Report: James Baker (2018)
Rogers’ 6-foot point guard James Baker is piecing together a fine senior season, and is hoping that one final stretch through the playoffs can be just what it takes to get his recruitment going.
Right now, there’s a couple JuCos that have been interested in him. That’s a route he says he’ll go if necessary.
“It’s (recruitment) been pretty slow right now, to be honest. I’ve talked to a few JuCo schools, but that’s about it,” said Baker.
“There’s been a few JuCo’s in Cali that have reached out, and that was at the beginning of the season.”
The ultimate goal for Baker is the go as high as he can with his basketball career. If that requires two years of JuCo, then that’s fine.
“I’m pretty open to anything, and of course my ultimate goal is to reach the highest level possible playing college basketball, but whatever path I have to take to do that is what I’ll do,” he said.
“If going to a community college for two years allows me to do that, then that’s what I’ll do.”
A true point guard with slick handles and jumper, Baker explained his playing style in his own words to PHWA.
“One of my strengths definitely is ball-handling. I take a lot of pride in my ball-handling,” said Baker. “And I shoot the outside 3 pretty well. I love the pick-and-roll, I can make great decision from that. I just like having the ball in my hands.”
Baker is averaging nearly 21 points per game for the Pirates, and says his role is to score the ball and be the team’s leader.
“My senior season has gone pretty good, it’s been a lot better than last season — it’s been a lot better for us,” said Baker.
“My role on the team is definitely to score. I’m leading the team in scoring right now. My coach wants me to be a vocal point guard, and score within the offense. And, ya, I just try and be a leader on the court.”
And with the playoffs ahead, Baker says a deep run could help with his recruitment.
“We have playoffs, and that could open up a lot more recruitment if we make some noise in the playoffs,” he said. “So, hopefully we can make a pretty far run and some college coaches come to our games.”