Jaime Jaquez Jr.

Jaquez is the son of Angela and Jaime Jaquez Sr., who met while playing basketball at Concordia University.[1] Jaime Jr. is the third generation of his family to have played college basketball; Jaime Sr.'s father, Ezequiel, who came to California with his family from Mexico as a child, played at Ventura Community College and Northern Arizona University.[2]

Jaime Jr. was born in Irvine, California, and has a younger brother Marcos and younger sister Gabriela. Jaquez grew up in Camarillo and attended Camarillo High School. As a freshman, he averaged 15.3 points, 10.0 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 2.6 steals per game and led the team to a 25–7 record and the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) semifinals. As a sophomore, Jaquez earned all-Ventura County second-team honors, averaging 24.1 points, 10.9 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and 2.6 steals per game, despite missing 12 games with an ankle injury.[3]

Jaquez averaged 31.7 points, 11.7 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 2.1 steals per game as a senior and helped the team finish 25–4 and win its first Coastal Canyon League title.[4] He earned first-team All-CIF Southern Section honors and finished his high school career with 2,653 points.[5] Jaquez broke the school single-game scoring record with a 54-point outing against Royal High School.[6] Jaquez was also a pitcher on the high school baseball team.[4]

Jaquez in 2019

At the University of California, Los Angeles, Jaquez became a starter for the Bruins during the Maui Jim Maui Invitational in November 2019.[5] He scored 17 points and had 12 rebounds in a win against Chaminade on November 26.[1] On December 1, he scored a season-high 18 points in a 93–64 win over San Jose State.[7] He scored 18 points on February 27, 2020, and hit the game-winning three-pointer with 0.6 seconds remaining in a 75–72 win over Arizona State.[8] As a freshman, Jaquez averaged 8.9 points and 4.8 rebounds per game. He was named honorable mention Pac-12 All-Freshman team.[9]

On February 18, 2021, Jaquez scored 25 points on his 20th birthday in a 74–60 win over Arizona, the Bruins' fifth straight in its rivalry with the Wildcats.[10] For the season, he was a second-team All-Pac-12 selection and was named to the Pac-12 All-Defensive Team.[11] In UCLA's First Four play-in game of the 2021 NCAA tournament, he led the Bruins in scoring with a 27 points in a 86–80 overtime win against Michigan State.[12][13] UCLA advanced to the Final Four, losing to Gonzaga.[14]

In 2021–22, Jaquez was restricted by ankle injuries throughout most of the season.[15][16] He suffered from synovitis in one ankle and began wearing braces on both ankles as a preventative measure.[17] He bounced back from a three-game stretch in mid-February 2022 in which he scored a combined 13 points.[16] On February 28, Jaquez scored a career-high 30 points in a 77–66 win over Washington.[15] In the following game, he scored 27 points in the regular-season finale against USC, helping UCLA end its five-game losing streak in their crosstown rivalry with the Trojans.[18] He was named the Pac-12 Player of the Week after averaging 28.5 points on 64 percent shooting along with 7.5 rebounds, as the Bruins clinched the No. 2 seed in the Pac-12 tournament.[19] Jaquez was named to the All-Pac-12 first team and was voted again to the conference's defensive team.[20] He was one of five finalists for the Julius Erving Award, given to the top small forward in the country.[21] In the second round of the 2022 NCAA tournament, he scored 15 points in a 72–56 win over Saint Mary's, but exited the game and did not return after spraining his right ankle with seven minutes remaining in the second half.[17][22] He was averaging 20.5 points in his last eight games, with the Bruins going 7–1.[23] The stretch coincided with his being able to resume practicing,[23] while UCLA's leading scorer, Johnny Juzang, was in a scoring slump.[17] Jaquez recovered to play 38 minutes in the following game against North Carolina in the Sweet Sixteen, but the Bruins lost 73–66. He scored 10 points, shooting 1-for-11 in the second half and missing his final nine shots.[24][25]

Jaquez returned to UCLA for his senior year in 2022–23.[26] For the second straight season, he was named to a finalist for the Julius Erving Award.[27] On February 4, 2023, he had a game-high 24 points and a career-high 15 rebounds in a 76–52 win over Washington State.[28] That month, he scored late baskets in multiple games to help lead the team to victories, including seven points in 3+1⁄2 minutes as the Bruins secured a win over Utah.[29] He led UCLA to their first Pac-12 regular season title since 2013.[30] The Bruins received a No. 2 seed in the 2023 NCAA tournament. In the opener, Jaquez had 17 points, eight rebounds, and a career-high five steals in a 86–53 rout over No. 15-seed UNC Asheville.[31] UCLA again reached the Sweet Sixteen, losing again in the tournament to Gonzaga. For the season, he averaged 17.8 points and 8.2 rebounds.[14] He was named a consensus second-team All-American,[32] and received the Lute Olson Award as the college player of the year.[14] Jaquez was voted the Pac-12 Player of the Year, becoming the first Bruin to win since Kevin Love in 2008 and the first UCLA senior to capture the award since Ed O'Bannon in 1995.[33] He also earned his second consecutive first-team all-conference selection.[30] After the season, Jaquez declared for the 2023 NBA draft, forgoing the extra year of eligibility that was available due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He ended his career ranked eighth in UCLA history in career scoring (1,802) and career steals (178) and ninth in total games played (134).[34]

Jaquez played for the Mexico national team in the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru.[5]

Jaquez's sister Gabriela, who shared MVP honors at the 2022 McDonald's All-American Girls Game,[2] committed to joining the UCLA women's basketball team as part of its 2022–23 freshman class. His brother Marcos became a defensive lineman for Camarillo High's football team.[17]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jaime Jaquez Jr..

• UCLA Bruins bio
• USA Basketball bio