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UCLA Basketball: Jaime Jaquez Receives Special NBA Honor at Mo Ostin Center

The Bruin legend got one last accolade.

Matt Wagner

UCLA Basketball: Jaime Jaquez Receives Special NBA Honor at Mo Ostin Center
UCLA Basketball: Jaime Jaquez Receives Special NBA Honor at Mo Ostin Center /
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Jaime Jaquez Jr. came to UCLA in 2019 as a highly touted forward from Camarillo High School.

The four-star forward was known as a solid defender when he first made his way to Westwood, and was expected to become an impact player through his college career.

For Jaquez, that first season went relatively well, as he showed the defense that he was known for along with a capable midrange shot.

In year two, Jaquez improved, again showing that dogged effort defensively and more polished offensive game, but most certainly wasn't on the NBA radar.

It was during those last two seasons where he truly etched himself into UCLA basketball lore and earned himself a spot in the world's best basketball league.

That suffocating defense? That was still there. The offensive game was refined, and he added a respectable three-point shot along with the midrange that had always been there since he first stepped on campus as an 18-year-old.

What followed was one of the best two year stints of the modern Bruins basketball era.

The previously dormant basketball program when Jaquez first arrived changed back into one of the elite programs in the nation, with two NCAA Tournament berths, a Final Four appearance, and once again perennially finding themselves ranked in the top 10 nationally.

Jaquez led the way, garnering Pac-12 Player of the Year and All-American honors in his last two seasons, a transformation that led to him being selected by the Miami Heat in the first round of the 2023 NBA Draft in June.

But before Jaquez officially began his NBA career, he received one final accolade commemorating the result of his college development, as he was added to the list of UCLA basketball's first round NBA Draft picks inside the program's practice facility -- the Mo Ostin Center.

Jaime Jaquez Jr. is officially first round pick 43 of 43, and he has quite a legacy to carry on into the future along with that.

But if his UCLA career is any indication, he'll have no problems doing living up to the standards of the players that came before him.

The Bruin legend has already done just that.

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Matt Wagner
MATT WAGNER

Matt Wagner was born and raised in southern California, and he lived there before moving to Colorado and getting his B.A. in Communications from the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs in 2022. He relocated back to southern California in 2023 and is looking forward to covering the teams that mean so much to his home area. Some of his past work is in Bleacher Report, Dodgers Tailgate, and, most recently, Colorado Buffaloes Wire. Aside from writing, you can probably catch him petting the nearest dog or eating some good Mexican food.