UCLA Basketball: Adem Bona Impressing in NBA Draft Combine

The All-Pac-12 center is producing some solid output this week.

Mar 13, 2024; Las Vegas, NV, USA; UCLA Bruins forward Adem Bona (3). / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Former UCLA Bruins sophomore power forward/center Adem Bona is in the midst of his next basketball adventure: the NBA Draft Combine in Chicago.

The 6-foot-10 star, who served as the club's defensive anchor and overall best player during an otherwise-underwhelming 16-17 season in 2023-24, has put up some impressive numbers thus far.

Per UCLA Communications, the All-Pac-12 big man logged a 40-inch vertical, the second-best of any prospect in attendance. For his next trick, according to Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress, Bona scored 13 points on 3-of-3 shooting from the floor and 4-of-5 shooting from the charity stripe, grabbed eight rebounds, and blocked one shot.

Last year with the Blue and Gold, the 2024 Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year scored 12.4 points on 58.8 percent shooting from the floor, while notching 5.9 rebounds, blocking 1.8 shots, dishing out 1.2 dimes and swiping 1.1 steals a night.

Bona was the only carryover starter from UCLA's far more successful 2022-23 run, which included a Sweet Sixteen berth. The Bruins went 31-6 that year, during Bona's freshman year, led by Jaime Jaquez Jr., Tyger Campbell, Jaylen Clark and Amari Bailey, all of whom departed for the pros after the season.

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