Advertisement

Jaime Jaquez Jr. declares for 2023 NBA Draft after four years at UCLA

The fourth-year senior helped the Bruins reach the Final Four in 2021

Callie Lawson-Freeman
Contributing writer
·2 min read
9
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - MARCH 23: Jaime Jaquez Jr. #24 of the UCLA Bruins dribbles the ball during the first half against the Gonzaga Bulldogs in the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at T-Mobile Arena on March 23, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)
Jaime Jaquez Jr. of the UCLA Bruins is headed to the league. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)

UCLA Bruins forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. is declaring for the 2023 NBA Draft, he announced Thursday via social media.

"I have fulfilled my dream of playing basketball for and graduating from UCLA," Jaquez Jr. wrote in a statement. "I would like to thank Coach Mick Cronin and UCLA's coaching staff for developing me, as both a player and a person."

Jaquez, a fourth-year senior, averaged 17.8 points, 8.2 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game this season, which saw the Bruins notch a Pac-12 championship and a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament.

The consensus All-American recorded 29 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals in the Bruins' third consecutive Sweet 16 appearance. The team was eliminated when Gonzaga's Julian Strawther made a last-minute, 32-foot jumper in a 79-76 win.

Two weeks after his season's end, Jaquez is ready for the next step in his basketball career.

At 6-foot-7, Jaquez boasts a 6-foot-11 wingspan. His collegiate experience offered him the opportunity to play multiple roles on the court. The forward could be seen guarding any position and serving as primary ball handler. He is the No. 39 prospect in Kyrsten Peek of Yahoo Sports' most recent mock draft.

His ability to make plays on both sides of the ball is illustrated well in this reel from the March Madness official Twitter account:

In 2021, Jaquez helped the team reach the Final Four.

While he could've returned to UCLA for a fifth year, given that the NCAA granted an extra year of eligibility to all student-athletes in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Jaquez left his mark on the Bruins and NCAA history.

Named the 2023 Pac-12 Player of the Year at the end of the regular season, Jaquez became UCLA's first men's basketball player to earn the award since Kevin Love in 2008. Jaquez is UCLA's first senior to earn the conference's heralded honor since Ed O'Bannon in 1995.

He and his sister, Gabriela, a freshman forward on the women’s team, are the first brother-sister duo to make it to the Sweet 16 with the same school in the same season. The women's team was also eliminated in the Sweet 16 with a 59-43 loss to the then-undefeated South Carolina Gamecocks.