Jaime Jaquez Jr. (/ˈhaɪmeɪ ˈhɑːkɛz/, HY-may HAH-kez; born February 18, 2001) is a Mexican–American college basketball player for the UCLA Bruins of the Pac-12 Conference. He has earned two all-conference selections in the Pac-12, including first-team honors as a junior in 2022. He is also a two-time member of the Pac-12 All-Defensive Team.
![]() Jaquez with UCLA in 2021 | |
No. 24 – UCLA Bruins | |
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Position | Shooting guard / Small forward |
League | Pac-12 Conference |
Personal information | |
Born | (2001-02-18) February 18, 2001 (age 21) Irvine, California, U.S. |
Nationality | American / Mexican |
Listed height | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) |
Listed weight | 225 lb (102 kg) |
Career information | |
High school | Camarillo (Camarillo, California) |
College | UCLA (2019–present) |
Career highlights and awards | |
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Of Mexican descent, Jaquez is the son of Angela and Jaime Jaquez Sr., who met while playing basketball at Concordia University.[1] He was born in Irvine, California, and has a younger brother Marcos and younger sister Gabriela. Jaquez grew up in Camarillo and attended Camarillo High School. As a freshman, he averaged 15.3 points, 10.0 rebounds, 2.3 assists. and 2.6 steals per game and led the team to a 25–7 record and the CIF semifinals. As a sophomore, Jaquez earned all-Ventura County second-team honors, averaging 24.1 points, 10.9 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 2.6 steals per game, despite missing 12 games with an ankle injury.[2]
Jaquez averaged 31.7 points, 11.7 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 2.1 steals per game as a senior and helped the team finish 25–4 and win its first Coastal Canyon League title.[3] He earned first-team All-CIF Southern Section honors and finished his high school career with 2,653 points.[4] Jaquez broke the school single-game scoring record with a 54-point outing against Royal High School.[5] Jaquez was a pitcher on the high school baseball team.[3]
He became a starter for the team during the Maui Jim Maui Invitational in November 2019.[4] Jaquez scored 17 points and had 12 rebounds in a win against Chaminade on November 26.[1] On December 1, he scored a season-high 18 points in a 93–64 win over San Jose State.[6] He scored 18 points on February 27, 2020, and hit the game-winning three-pointer with 0.6 seconds remaining in a 75–72 win over Arizona State.[7] As a freshman, Jaquez averaged 8.9 points and 4.8 rebounds per game. He was named honorable mention Pac-12 All-Freshman team.[8]
On February 18, 2021, Jaquez scored 25 points on his 20th birthday in a 74–60 win over Arizona, the Bruins fifth straight in its rivalry with the Wildcats.[9] For the season, he was a second-team All-Pac-12 selection and was named to the Pac-12 All-Defensive Team.[10] In UCLA's First Four play-in game of the 2021 NCAA tournament, he led the Bruins in scoring with a 27 points in a 86–80 overtime win against Michigan State.[11][12]
In 2021–22, Jaquez was restricted by ankle injuries throughout most of the season.[13][14] He suffered from synovitis in one ankle and began wearing braces on both ankles as a preventative measure.[15] He bounced back from a three-game stretch in mid-February 2022 in which he scored a combined 13 points.[14] On February 28, Jaquez scored a career-high 30 points in a 77–66 win over Washington.[13] In the following game, he scored 27 points in the regular-season finale against USC, helping UCLA end its five-game losing streak in their crosstown rivalry with the Trojans.[16] He was named the Pac-12 Player of the Week after averaging 28.5 points on 64 percent shooting along with 7.5 rebounds, as the Bruins clinched the No. 2 seed in the Pac-12 tournament.[17] Jaquez was named to the All-Pac-12 first team and was voted again to the conference's defensive team.[18] He was one of five finalists for the Julius Erving Award, given to the top small forward in the country.[19] In the second round of the 2022 NCAA tournament, he scored 15 points in a 72–56 win over Saint Mary's, but exited the game and did not return after spraining his right ankle with seven minutes remaining in the second half.[15][20] He was averaging 20.5 points in his last eight games, with the Bruins going 7–1.[21] The stretch coincided with his being able to resume practicing,[21] while UCLA's leading scorer, Johnny Juzang, was in a scoring slump.[15] Jaquez recovered to play 38 minutes in the following game against North Carolina in the Sweet Sixteen, but the Bruins lost 73–66. He scored 10 points, shooting 1-for-11 in the second half and missing his final nine shots.[22][23]
Jaquez played for the Mexican national team in the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru.[4]
GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
FG% | Field goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field goal percentage | FT% | Free throw percentage |
RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2019–20 | UCLA | 31 | 23 | 26.6 | .454 | .313 | .761 | 4.8 | 1.4 | 1.4 | .4 | 8.9 |
2020–21 | UCLA | 32 | 32 | 34.9 | .486 | .394 | .655 | 6.1 | 1.7 | 1.2 | .7 | 12.3 |
2021–22 | UCLA | 34 | 34 | 30.5 | .472 | .276 | .761 | 5.7 | 2.3 | 1.1 | .3 | 13.9 |
Career | 97 | 85 | 30.7 | .472 | .332 | .723 | 5.5 | 1.8 | 1.2 | .5 | 11.8 |
Source:[24]
Jaquez's sister, Gabriela, committed to joining the UCLA women's basketball team as part of their 2022–23 freshman class. His brother, Marcos, became a defensive lineman for Camarillo High's football team.[15]