Tag: Jaime Jaquez Jr.

Zach Edey, Trayce Jackson-Davis headline AP All-America first team

Edey and Jackson-Davis headlined the players named to the Associated Press All-America first team.

Purdue junior Zach Edey and Indiana senior Trayce Jackson-Davis headlined the players named to the Associated Press All-America first team on Tuesday.

Edey, the Big Ten Player of the Year, was the only player to appear on all 58 first-team ballots after averaging 22.3 points, 12.8 points, 2.1 blocks and 1.5 assists with the Boilermakers. He ranks sixth in the country in scoring, second in rebounding and first in double-doubles (26).

Jackson-Davis became the first Hoosier since Victor Oladipo in 2013 to earn first-team honors after averaging 20.8 points, 10.9 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 2.7 blocks. He ranks 16th nationally in scoring, 13th in rebounding and sixth in blocks (82).

Joining Edey and Jackson-Davis on the first team are Kansas forward Jalen Wilson, Houston guard Marcus Sasser and Alabama forward Brandon Miller, who was the only freshman to appear on the list.

AP named Jaime Jaquez Jr. (UCLA), Oscar Tshiebwe (Kentucky), Drew Timme (Gonzaga), Azuolas Tubelis (Arizona) and Jalen Pickett (Penn State) to the second team. On the third team were Markquis Nowell and Keyontae Johnson (Kansas State), Tyler Kolek (Marquette), Kris Murray (Iowa) and Armando Bacot (North Carolina).

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UCLA guard Jaime Jaquez Jr. to return for senior season

Jaquez was named to the first team All-Pac 12 after averaging 13.9 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.1 steals.

UCLA Bruins junior Jaime Jaquez Jr. announced on Monday that he will pass on entering the 2022 NBA draft and return to the program for one more season.

Jaquez, who was named to the first team All-Pac 12, averaged 13.9 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.1 steals in 34 games. He became the 59th different player in program history to score at least 1,000 career points and was also named to the Pac-12 All-Defensive team.

The 6-foot-7 guard was considered to be a mid-to-late second-round pick this year but will now return to school for his senior year. He cited his desire to win a championship with the Bruins as a major factor in opting to stay with the program.

The Bruins advanced to the Sweet 16 this year and made it to the Final Four last season. With Jaquez back, the Bruins project to make another deep run in the NCAA Tournament and could be among the favorites to win the championship next year.

This post originally appeared on Rookie Wire! Follow us on Facebook!

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UCLA’s Jaime Jaquez misses practice, but provides some positive news for Sweet 16 bettors

UCLA is preparing two game plans against North Carolina.

If UCLA (-2.5) intends to beat North Carolina in their NCAA tournament Sweet 16 matchup Friday, the availability of Jaime Jaquez Jr. can swing the difficulty of that task dramatically in either direction.

Jaquez suffered a right ankle injury in UCLA’s Second Round win over Saint Mary’s, leaving his status against UNC in question. He missed practice Tuesday and is officially considered day-to-day. But there was one encouraging sign about where his health may be trending.

A clip surfaced of Jaquez walking to the team bus, and there wasn’t a noticeable limp in his step as he casually pulled his luggage to the side and hung around outside a bit.

For those of the opinion Jaquez can swing the result of this game, seeing him walk without a limp probably isn’t enough to bet on UCLA against the spread or moneyline. Though there could be a benefit in taking that risk now and getting ahead of a potential move in the line if and after he’s cleared.

At 6-7, 225 pounds, Jaquez has the size to score and defend against a Tar Heels team whose best players are arguably 6-10 Armando Bacot and 6-9 Brady Manek. Jaquez is UCLA’s second leading scorer and assister at 14.0 points per game and 2.3 assists, and he leads the team with 5.7 rebounds per game and 1.2 steals.

Teammate Jules Bernard said if Jaquez can walk, “he’ll play,” via the Los Angeles Daily News. But head coach Mick Cronin is still preparing two game plans: “one with him and one without him.”

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Aggregate NBA mock draft 4.0: Duke’s AJ Griffin is soaring back into the top tier

The best prospects in the world are all competing for the top spot in the 2022 NBA draft and it is hard to sort how everyone is stacking up.

The best prospects in the world are all competing for the top spot in the 2022 NBA draft and it is hard to sort how everyone is stacking up.

In order to help us get a better sense of where all of the projected top prospects in the class stand as of right now, we compiled mock drafts from Draft Express (ESPN), Aran Smith (NBADraft.net), Sam Vecenie (The Athletic), Jonathan Wasserman (Bleacher Report), Chad Ford (NBA Big Board), Krysten Peek (Yahoo), Matt Babcock (Basketball News) as well as USA TODAY Sports Media Group’s For The Win.

Please note that these rankings reflect the composite score in order to get a feel for consensus, not our own opinion. Predictions for a first overall pick earned a player 58 points while the second overall pick earned 57 points, the third overall earned 56 points, and so on.

AJ Griffin (Duke), Alondes Williams (Wake Forrest), Iverson Molinar (Mississippi State), Orlando Robinson (Fresno State), Walker Kessler (Fresno State), Justin Lewis (Marquette), Christian Braun (Kansas), and Tari Eason (LSU) have improved their draft stock the most since our most recent update last month.\

The most notable prospects who made their debut on our rankings were Shaedon Sharpe (Kentucky), David Roddy (Colorado State), and Jaylin Williams (Arkansas).

Meanwhile, the top prospects who were not included in any of these recent mock drafts are Daimion Collins (Kentucky), Alex Fudge (LSU), Justin Moore (Villanova), Darius Days (LSU), Jared Rhoden (Seton Hall), Tre Mitchell (Texas), Dawson Garcia (North Carolina), and more.

Otherwise, you can learn the latest updates on every single prospect who has been included in recent mock drafts by scrolling below.

HoopsHype’s Alberto de Roa contributed research to this report

Aggregate NBA mock draft 4.0: Duke’s AJ Griffin is soaring back into the top tier

The best prospects in the world are all competing for the top spot in the 2022 NBA draft and it is hard to sort how everyone is stacking up.

In order to help us get a better sense of where all of the projected top prospects in the class stand as of right now, we compiled mock drafts from Draft Express (ESPN), Aran Smith (NBADraft.net), Sam Vecenie (The Athletic), Jonathan Wasserman (Bleacher Report), Chad Ford (NBA Big Board), Krysten Peek (Yahoo), Matt Babcock (Basketball News) as well as USA TODAY Sports Media Group’s For The Win.

Please note that these rankings reflect the composite score in order to get a feel for consensus, not our own opinion. Predictions for a first overall pick earned a player 58 points while the second overall pick earned 57 points, the third overall earned 56 points, and so on.

AJ Griffin (Duke), Alondes Williams (Wake Forrest), Iverson Molinar (Mississippi State), Orlando Robinson (Fresno State), Walker Kessler (Fresno State), Justin Lewis (Marquette), Christian Braun (Kansas), and Tari Eason (LSU) have improved their draft stock the most since our most recent update last month.\

The most notable prospects who made their debut on our rankings were Shaedon Sharpe (Kentucky), David Roddy (Colorado State), and Jaylin Williams (Arkansas).

Meanwhile, the top prospects who were not included in any of these recent mock drafts are Daimion Collins (Kentucky), Alex Fudge (LSU), Justin Moore (Villanova), Darius Days (LSU), Jared Rhoden (Seton Hall), Tre Mitchell (Texas), Dawson Garcia (North Carolina), and more.

Otherwise, you can learn the latest updates on every single prospect who has been included in recent mock drafts by scrolling below.

HoopsHype’s Alberto de Roa contributed research to this report

2022 NBA Draft Big Board 1.0: Debut rankings of the top 101 prospects

Let’s be honest. Ranking the best NBA draft prospects is a fool’s errand. But evaluating this class is an especially challenging assignment.

Let’s be honest. Ranking the best NBA draft prospects is a fool’s errand. But evaluating this class is an especially challenging assignment.

One of the top pre-season prospects (Patrick Baldwin Jr.) is playing for a mid-major program that has just two wins so far this season. Other top prospects (AJ Griffin and Peyton Watson) are not getting much playing time for their high-major programs. Meanwhile, guard Jean Montero is playing in the inaugural Overtime Elite league. How do we compare his productivity to other prospects? I’m frankly not sure.

But nevertheless, my big board exists. Rather than going small, I decided to blow it up and do the opposite. Why did I go ahead and rank 101 prospects if this class has been so challenging to evaluate? There are two distinct reasons.

One is that I’m absolutely crazy and get a very fulfilling satisfaction with the completion of a mock draft and big board because it feels complete. It looks awesome seeing as many names as I can fit on one article, even if the science behind the rankings is a bit inconclusive.

The other reason is that as I make more big boards throughout the year, it’s interesting to track the progress (and regression) of certain prospects. I am inevitably wrong about most of these placements! But this article serves as a barometer for where I feel certain players are at in their development right now.

Note that several notable prospects (e.g. freshmen Max Christie, Matthew Cleveland, Nolan Hickman, Hunter Sallis, Brandon Huntley-Hatfield, Jeremy Sochan, Kobe Bufkin) were excluded because I expect them to go back to school to improve their draft stock.

More likely than not, some of those players will declare for the 2022 NBA draft. When that happens, I obviously will not have them outside of my top 101.

Until then, as we prepare to turn the calendar into a new year, here are the debut rankings for 101 of my favorite prospects.

All stats are accurate as of Dec. 14 and are from Sports-Reference unless noted otherwise.

2022 NBA Mock Draft 2.0: Predicting all 59 picks, starting with Paolo Banchero

After a few games, we have a much better idea of how prospects like Paolo Banchero and Chet Holmgren will be used until the 2022 NBA draft.

After a few games, we have a much better idea of how prospects like Paolo Banchero and Chet Holmgren will be used until the 2022 NBA draft.

Preseason mock drafts, like the one we published back on Aug. 11, are especially challenging. Predictions are mostly guesswork based on uninformed priors until we’ve seen the usage of how each coach will implement the prospects we are evaluating.

Additionally, several players used the offseason to work on certain skill sets (e.g. Kansas’ Ochai Agbaji is now a much better shooter) in ways we couldn’t have projected.

As such, even though it’s only been a few games, it’s a lot easier to discuss the 2022 NBA draft now than it was even just last month. The season is underway for college basketball — and the G League Ignite, Overtime Elite, and several international leagues —  which means draft boards are shaping up.

After a ton of movement, as of right now, here is how we see the 2022 NBA draft unfolding.

Draft order is pulled from Tankathon. All stats are accurate as of 11/22/21.

2021 NBA Mock Draft: Predicting all 59 picks, starting with Chet Holmgren

Let’s look ahead to next year’s draft.

We are only a couple of weeks removed from the 2021 NBA draft and it’s silly to publish a mock draft for next year. But let’s do it anyway.

Because frankly, far away as though it may seem, ten months can go by fast. Although a lot is going to change, some things stay the same. For example, I published my first mock draft of the 2020 cycle in May 2019 and all three of the first projected picks heard their names called within the first three picks nearly fifteen months later. Much of the rest, of course, is utterly wrong and embarrassing. But it is still helpful to track progression and regression.

Before we discuss the next crop of future NBA talent, however, let’s address the elephant in the room. You have probably noticed that the headline said this mock draft highlights 59 picks. No, that isn’t a typo.

Allow me to explain. The Milwaukee Bucks have forfeited the rights to their second-round pick in the 2022 NBA draft due to violating league rules regarding an attempted transaction made back in Nov. 2020. While it sucks for the additional person who is going to go undrafted, undrafted free agency isn’t the worst thing.

Otherwise, the order of this draft was determined by reversing the NBA futures odds courtesy of Tipico SportsBook. The teams whose odds fell outside the eight best in each conference composed the projected lottery. Meanwhile, all picks involved with previous trades were included in the order as well.

Another quick housekeeping note: My mock drafts tend to be fairly data-driven. But that can sometimes lead to some blind spots for evaluating prospects playing outside the NCAA (e.g. high school, AAU, FIBA, etc.), which made pre-season mock drafts particularly difficult.

That’s no longer the case thanks to the help from our fantastic new partners over at Cerebro Sports, a stats and analytics resource that scrapes box scores to determine how top basketball prospects have stacked up against all their previous competition.

With all that in mind, far away as we may be from draft night on June 22, here is how I see everything shaking out just based on what we know so far: