Report: Veteran PG Tyger Campbell Returning to UCLA Men’s Basketball

The Bruins will be getting Campbell back for a fourth season running the point in Westwood.

Tyger Campbell has been a mainstay in the Bruins’ lineup ever since he returned from a torn ACL in 2019.

And the all-conference point guard isn’t leaving Westwood just yet.

According to Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times, the UCLA men’s basketball veteran is returning for his redshirt senior season. The deadline to declare for the 2022 NBA Draft is set for Sunday night, but Campbell is going to let that pass and instead stay in school another year.

UCLA point guard Tyger Campbell is returning next season, said his mother, Jennifer Krekeler-Campbell. Huge boost for the Bruins.

— Ben Bolch (@latbbolch) April 24, 2022

Campbell posted a series of photos to his Instagram on Saturday night, captioning it with “IYKYL” and a series of emojis alluding to his return.

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A post shared by Tyger Campbell (@tyger15)

Campbell is a two-time All-Pac-12 First Team member, earning nods in each of the oast two seasons. As UCLA’s starting point guard in 96 of their 98 contests under coach Mick Cronin, Campbell has averaged 10.2 points, 4.9 assists and 2.3 rebounds per game.

The Bruins are now awaiting the decisions of big men Cody Riley and Myles Johnson and sharpshooter David Singleton, all of whom have a super senior year to cash in should they choose to do so. Johnny Juzang and Peyton Watson are locked into the NBA Draft, Jules Bernard entered his name while retaining his remaining eligibility and Jake Kyman transferred to Wyoming.

Campbell and Jaime Jaquez Jr., on the other hand, are running it back with the blue and gold. Both upperclassmen have helped define the early days of the Cronin era, leading UCLA to a big late-season winning streak as freshmen, guiding the program to the Final Four as sophomores and reaching the Sweet 16 as juniors this past March.

Through it all, Cronin has only had Campbell to lean on at point guard. McDonald’s All-American point guard Daishen Nix backed out of his letter of intent to sign with the G League in 2020 and Will McClendon tore his ACL in 2021, leaving Campbell as the lone player at the position.

Heading into 2022, however, Campbell will have incoming freshman Dylan Andrews as a true point guard coming off the bench to share the load, in addition to the return of McClendon and the arrival of star combo guard Amari Bailey.

The reinforcements at the point may mean Campbell’s minutes trend down a bit next season, but Cronin would be remiss to trim the playing time of one of the most well-regarded floor generals in the nation.

Campbell averaged 8.3 points and 5.0 assists per game as a redshirt freshman, then bumped those numbers up to 10.4 points and 5.4 assists as a sophomore.

This past season, Campbell didn’t only record a career-high 11.9 points per game, but he also became one of the Pac-12 best shooters when he put up a 41.0% clip from 3-point range. Campbell also ranked No. 6 in the country with a 3.2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio and was a finalist for the Bob Cousy Award for best point guard.

Even though his assists per game dipped under 5.0, he still ranked No. 3 in the Pac-12 in the stat for the third consecutive campaign.

The 5-foot-11 Campbell already ranks No. 10 on UCLA’s all-time assists list with 469, and he is on track to enter the top five along Pooh Richardson, Tyus Edney and Earl Watson at his current pace.

Campbell will officially get the chance to do so, and help UCLA earn NCAA championship banner No. 12, when he returns in the fall for his fourth year commanding Cronin’s offense.

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