UCLA’s Jaime Jaquez Jr. Named Finalist For Julius Erving Award

The recognition just keeps flowing in for the Bruins' star senior.

The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame revealed its five finalists for the Julius Erving Award Watch List on Wednesday, and UCLA men's basketball guard/forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. made the cut. The award is given to the nation's top small forward, and Jaquez is now a finalist for the second year in a row.

Last year, Jaquez lost out on the honor to Duke's Wendell Moore. This year, he'll be going up against Kansas State's Keyontae Johnson, Alabama's Brandon Miller, Gonzaga's Julian Strawther and Kansas' Jalen Wilson.

Jaquez, who won Pac-12 Player of the Year on Tuesday, is the only player from the conference still in contention for the honor. Jaquez, Johnson and Wilson are all also in the running for the John R. Wooden Award for national player of the year.

No UCLA player has won the Erving Award since it was introduced in the 2014-2015 season

The Camarillo, California, native is leading UCLA with 17.5 points and 8.0 rebounds per game, and he ranks second on the team with 2.4 assists, 1.5 steals and 0.6 blocks per game. Jaquez is averaging career highs in every major count stat, in addition to shooting a career-best 48.7% from the field.

Jaquez has appeared in all 31 of the Bruins games so far this season and scored double figures in 28, leading the team to a 26-4 record, a Pac-12 regular season title and 10 consecutive top-10 rankings in the process.

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. 4 in steals per game, No. 3 in player efficiency rating, No. 1 in win shares, No. 2 in offensive win shares, No. 2 in defensive win shares and No. 2 in win shares per 40 minutes.

Jaquez took things to the next level in February and early March, scoring 20-plus points in seven of the Bruins' last nine games. Jaquez is also averaging 9.7 rebounds per game since Jan. 12, and he is shooting 36.1% from 3-point range since Jan. 1.

In Bart Torvik's updated analytics-based national player of the year rankings, Jaquez is at No. 8. Just since the start of conference play, however, Jaquez ranks No. 5. Either way, Jaquez leads the five Erving Award finalists in the metric.

Jaquez is also contending for the Oscar Robertson Trophy, the Naismith College Player of the Year Award and the John R. Wooden Award.

As for the Erving Award, the winner will be announced on a date to be determined, but it is expected to be in early April.

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