Who Has Been Bruins' Biggest Surprise This Season?

The UCLA Bruins are off to a sensational start to their season as they head into the heart of Big Ten play. With a group of several new transfer players, there is one player that has been the biggest surprise for a team that has made a quick turnaround.

Dec 28, 2024; Inglewood, California, USA; UCLA Bruins guard Eric Dailey Jr. (3) celebrates hitting a 3-point jumper during the second half against the Gonzaga Bulldogs at Intuit Dome. Left is Gonzaga Bulldogs forward Ben Gregg (33). Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images / Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images

The No. 15 UCLA Bruins (11-2) have started the season red-hot with a few statement victories against some of the top teams in the nation. They have turned their program around in one short year after a losing record a year ago and have brought in several impact transfers that have changed this team.

There is one player on this Bruins team that has been the biggest surprise and one of the most impactful players in all of college basketball. That is sophomore guard Eric Dailey Jr., who transferred from Oklahoma State.

Dailey was a freshman with the Cowboys a season ago, averaging 9.3 points per game with 4.8 rebounds per game. He has taken the biggest stride of any Bruin player over the past season as he is surpassing almost all of his averages from last season.

Now averaging the second-most points on the team with 11.4 per game, Dailey is shooting the rock at a 54.5% clip from the field and 48.4% from 3-point range. Both stats are significantly higher than what he finished with in his freshman season.

Dailey may not lead the team in any categories, but he has been the team's leading scorer in four of their 13 games so far this season. As a guard listed at 6-8, 230 pounds, Dailey has the ability to score in bunches from all over the court. He can control the paint while firing from deep efficiently.

According to College Basketball Analytics, Dailey ranks third in the Big Ten in Regularized Adjusted Plus-Minus (RAPM) at 7.3. RAPM is a metric that estimates a player's impact on the game per 100 possessions, proving that Dailey is one of the most impactful players in Division I.

The Big Ten leaders in RAPM, our 'all-in-one' metric:

1. Rodney Rice, Maryland
2. Derik Queen, Maryland
3. Eric Dailey Jr., UCLA
4. Ace Baldwin Jr., Penn St.
5. Jaxon Kohler, Michigan St. pic.twitter.com/RvINenYxWW

— CBB Analytics (@CBBAnalytics) December 27, 2024

According to that stat, Dailey is amongst the best players in the league in terms of the impact they have on their team. He has contributed in so many ways to earn this team wins over some of the top programs in the country.

As the season progresses, the importance of each conference game will rise as the Bruins seek to take home their first Big Ten title and make a deep run in the March Madness tournament. Dailey is going to be a cornerstone piece of that run and his contributions will mean even more later on.

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