Where did the ESPN mock NBA draft have Rutgers basketball’s Ace Bailey going?

Rutgers basketball commit Ace Bailey is a top-five NBA draft pick.

Rutgers basketball recruit Ace Bailey cracked the top five of the mock NBA draft that aired on Wednesday on ESPN.

A five-star forward from McEachern (Powder Springs, Georgia), Bailey has certainly looked the part of being the nation’s No. 2 recruit. This week, 247Sports elevated Bailey one spot, putting him behind only Duke commit Cooper Flagg in the national rankings

Bailey has had a really strong final season of high school basketball. The 6-foot-9 forward has shown his ability to run his team’s offense but defensively he has been strong off the glass, contesting shots and his off-the-ball defense has been very solid.

But it has been his ability scoring, in particular his range, that has been impressive this season. Bailey’s ability to play above and around the rim is well-known, but he developed a consistent jump shot this summer.

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All of which led ESPN NBA draft analyst Jonathan Givnoy to place Bailey as his second pick in his most recent mock draft for 2025. The top five picks made the ESPN show ‘NBA Today’ this week:

 

Flagg was quickly elevated to the No. 1 recruit status following his re-classification into the 2024 class this past August.

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Bailey is one of two recruits ranked as a consensus five-star who is committed to Rutgers in this class, the other being Don Bosco Prep (Ramsey, New Jersey) standout guard [autotag]Dylan Harper[/autotag].

Harper committed to Rutgers in December at an event in New York City at the Fanatics headquarters building.

Bailey and Harper were named to the McDonald’s All-American Game this week. Harper, ranked the No. 3 recruit nationally in the ESPN 100, did not make Givnoy’s top five in the mock draft.