Former Duke basketball wing might become Caleb Love's teammate

Joey Baker spent four seasons with the Duke basketball program before transferring to Michigan last summer for his fifth year of eligibility, a gift from the NCAA to anyone who played during the truncated 2020-21 season. But the 22-year-old wing has applied for a sixth year of eligibility and plans to remain a Wolverine if he gets it.

And that would now make him teammates with ex-UNC guard Caleb Love, whose late 3-point splash effectively ended Baker's final season as a Blue Devil in the 2022 Final Four. Yuck.

Love, a 21-year-old junior for the Tar Heels last season, now with two years of eligibility remaining, announced his transfer to Michigan on Friday.

Baker, who averaged a career-high 5.7 points and 2.2 rebounds for the Wolverines last season under fourth-year head coach Juwan Howard, arrived in Durham for the 2018-19 season as part of one of the most heralded Duke basketball recruiting hauls in history, featuring Zion Williamson, RJ Barrett, Cam Reddish, and Tre Jones.

All season, it looked like the native of Fayetteville, N.C., would redshirt.

But then Zion Williamson's knee injury, which he suffered 36 seconds into an eventual home loss to UNC on Feb. 20 that year, led to then-head coach Mike Krzyzewski burning Baker's redshirt three days later in a win at Syracuse.

However, Baker saw only 18 minutes of action that season, totaling only three points across his four appearances. And that's why he now seems to have a strong case for another year of eligibility.

There's no word yet on whether the NCAA will approve Joey Baker's request.

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