Anchorage’s Xzavier Baker is returning to his comfort zone on the hardwood.
Coming home and playing for his former college coach was too good to pass up for the 6-foot-8 forward, who signed with the Seawolves out of the transfer portal.
In joining UAA, the former Cook Inlet Conference Player of the Year will run it back with new Seawolf bench boss Cameron Turner, who coached Baker at Eastern Arizona College for two seasons (2023-25).
“I’m incredibly excited for the opportunity to coach Xzavier again,” Turner said in a statement Friday. “When I saw his name enter the transfer portal, I knew right away that I wanted to bring him home.”
Baker was a two-time all-state pick at Dimond High, including in 2023 when he was joined on the first team by Stewart Erhart, Akeem Sulaiman, Jayce Underwood and Luke Johnston, who is one of four former Dimond players with the Seawolves.
At Dimond, Baker led the Lynx to back-to-back top-four finishes at the Class 4A state championships as a junior and senior, earning all-tournament honors both times. He averaged of 15.0 points, 9.0 rebounds and 3.0 blocks per game as a senior to power a 25-4 Dimond squad that nearly ran the table in the CIC in 2022-23.
From there he went to Eastern Arizona, where he sat out his first season as a redshirt before starting 12 of 32 games the next season and averaging 4.2 points and 3.5 rebounds.
He played last season at UAF, where he appeared in only nine games, none after Feb. 7.
Baker jumped in the portal and Turner jumped at the chance to link up again.
Turner knows Baker’s game, mind and motor well, so signing him as the final piece to his inaugural recruiting class at UAA says a lot about the high-flying forward known for his furious dunks.
“We had been patient while looking for one more player to complete our class, and Xzavier was the perfect fit,” Turner said. “He is a special young man who I know and trust, and who impacts winning. He’s also a high-character person who understands what it takes to be part of a winning program.”
