UCLA Star Jaime Jaquez Jr. Named to AP All-American 2nd Team

The Bruins' top senior joined Drew Timme, Oscar Tshiebwe, Jalen Pickett and Azuolas Tubelis on the five-man second team.

The awards continue to come flowing in for the Bruins' No. 1 option.

UCLA men's basketball guard/forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. was named to the Associated Press' All-American Second Team on Tuesday. Kentucky center Oscar Tshiebwe, Arizona forward Azuloas Tubelis, Gonzaga big man Drew Timme and Penn State guard Jalen Pickett joined Jaquez on the Second Team.

Purdue center Zach Edey, Kansas forward Jalen Wilson, Indiana forward Trayce Jackson-Davis, Alabama forward Brandon Miller and Houston guard Marcus Sasser made up the AP All-American First Team, while North Carolina center Armando Bacot, Iowa forward Kris Murray, Kansas State forward Keyontae Johnson, Marquette guard Tyler Kolek and Kansas State guard Markquis Nowell made the Third Team.

UCLA point guard Tyger Campbell was an honorable mention, meaning he appeared on more than one of the 58 ballots.

Jaquez, meanwhile, was the leading vote-getter on the Second Team, picking up 27 First Team votes and finishing just seven points shy of taking Miller's spot. Jaquez is the first Bruin to be named an AP All-American since Lonzo Ball – who made the First Team in 2017 – and just the third in the past 15 seasons.

The Camarillo, California, native is leading UCLA with 17.3 points and 8.1 rebounds per game, and he ranks second on the team with 2.3 assists, 1.4 steals and 0.6 blocks per game. Jaquez is averaging career highs in every major count stat, in addition to shooting a career-best 77.3% from the free throw line.

Jaquez has appeared in all 34 of the Bruins games so far this season and scored double figures in 31, leading the team to a 29-5 record, a Pac-12 regular season title, a Pac-12 tournament title game appearance and a No. 7 ranking in the final AP Poll.

Under Jaquez's leadership, UCLA was named a No. 2 seed in the West Region for the NCAA tournament on Sunday. Jaquez helped lead the Bruins to the 2021 Final Four and 2022 Sweet 16 in his last two March Madness appearances.

The 6-foot-6 wing is towards the top of the Pac-12 leaderboards in several categories, ranking No. 4 in points per game, No. 5 in rebounds per game, No. 6 in steals per game, No. 4 in player efficiency rating, No. 1 in win shares, No. 2 in offensive win shares, No. 1 in defensive win shares and No. 2 in win shares per 40 minutes.

In Bart Torvik's updated analytics-based national player of the year rankings, Jaquez is at No. 10. Just since the start of conference play, however, Jaquez ranks No. 4, which is part of the reason he beat out Tubelis for Pac-12 Player of the Year.

Jaquez is also in the running for the John R. Wooden Award, Naismith Award and Erving Award.

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