The Bruins’ star senior is one of the 25 players in the running for the national player of the year honor.
With the college basketball season nearly at its midpoint, awards season is just over the horizon.
The Los Angeles Athletic Club revealed the 25-man midseason watch list for the John R. Wooden Award on Wednesday, and UCLA men’s basketball guard/forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. made the cut. Jaquez made the midseason watch list last year as well, and he was also on the preseason watch list in November.
Joining Jaquez on the watch list are North Carolina forward Armando Bacot, Texas guard Marcus Carr, Detroit Mercy guard Antoine Davis, Memphis guard Kendric Davis, Kansas wing Gradey Dick, Michigan center Hunter Dickinson, Purdue center Zach Edey, Duke center Kyle Filipowski, Baylor guard Adam Flagler, Baylor guard Keyonte George, Indiana forward Trayce Jackson-Davis, North Carolina guard Caleb Love, TCU guard Mike Miles Jr., Alabama forward Brandon Miller, Iowa forward Kris Murray, UConn forward Adama Sanogo, Houston guard Marcus Sasser, NC State guard Terquavion Smith, Gonzaga forward Drew Timme, Kentucky forward Oscar Tshiebwe, Arizona forward Azuolas Tubelis, UAB guard Jordan Walker, Kansas wing Jalen Wilson and Miami (FL) guard Isaiah Wong.
Jaquez is one of two Pac-12 players in contention for the honor alongside Tubelis.
The Camarillo, California, native is leading UCLA with 17.2 points per game, and he ranks second on the team with 6.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.7 steals and 0.7 blocks per game. Jaquez is averaging career highs in every major count stat, in addition to a career-best 53.5% shooting percentage from the field and a 81.8% clip from the free throw line.
Jaquez has appeared in all 15 of the Bruins games so far this season and scored in double figures each time, leading the team to a 13-2 record and consensus top-10 ranking in the process.
The 6-foot-6 wing leads the entire Pac-12 with 2.7 win shares, as he ranks No. 4 in the conference in points per game, No. 13 in rebounds per game, No. 20 in assists per game and No. 3 in steals per game. On both ends of the court, Jaquez has emerged as one of the most prolific players on the West Coast and beyond.
As a result, Jaquez is in the running to become one of the 15 members of the Wooden Award national ballot, which is released at the beginning of March. From there, a pool of nearly 1,000 voters will rank their top 10 players from that shortlist.
The Wooden Award All-American Team will be announced during the Elite Eight, while the winner of the Wooden Award will be revealed after the NCAA tournament.
Follow Connon on Twitter at @SamConnon
Follow All Bruins on Twitter at @FN_AllBruins
Like All Bruins on Facebook at @FN.AllBruins
Subscribe to All Bruins on YouTube
Read more UCLA stories: UCLA Bruins on Sports Illustrated
Read more UCLA men’s basketball stories: UCLA Men’s Basketball on Sports Illustrated
