Jaquez Jr. Named to Revised Julius Erving Award Watch List
February 08, 2023 | Men's Basketball
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – UCLA senior guard/forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. has been selected to the updated 10-person watch list for this season's Julius Erving Award, honoring the nation's best small forward.
Jaquez Jr. has been recognized on the award's revised watch list – down to 10 names – for the second consecutive season. He was among five award finalists near the conclusion of the 2021-22 season. The revised positional watch lists are being announced this week by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. UCLA's Tyger Campbell was among the 10 student-athletes listed to the revised watch list for the Bob Cousy Award (point guard) on Monday.
Jaquez Jr., a 6-foot-7 guard/forward from Camarillo, Calif., has led the Bruins this season in scoring (16.3 ppg) and rebounding (7.7 rpg). He continues to rank among the Pac-12 Conference's top 10 leaders in both of those categories – sixth in scoring and fifth in rebounding. Jaquez Jr. also ranks fourth in the Pac-12 in steals per game (1.65). Looking at UCLA's all-time records, Jaquez Jr. has moved into the No. 21 slot on the Bruins' career scoring list and the No. 18 slot on the career rebounding list.
The nine other candidates for this season's Julius Erving Award include Matthew Cleveland (Florida State), Keyontae Johnson (Kansas State), Colby Jones (Xavier), Brandon Miller (Alabama), Kevin Obanor (Texas Tech), Julian Strawther (Gonzaga), Baylor Scheierman (Creighton), Brice Sensabaugh (Ohio State) and Jalen Wilson (Kansas).
Jaquez Jr. is the only student-athlete on this season's 10-person updated Julius Erving Award watch list to have been recognized as one of last year's five finalists.
Fans can support their favorite players in the remaining rounds of these positional awards by participating in Fan Voting, presented by Dell Technologies, starting on Friday, Feb. 10 (by visiting HoophallAwards.com). The Fan Vote will count as one committee vote during the finalist selection process.
In March, five finalists will be presented to Erving and the Hall of Fame's selection committee. The Selection Committee for the Julius Erving Award is composed of top men's college basketball personnel including media members, head coaches, sports information directors and Hall of Famers.
The winner of the 2023 Julius Erving Award will be presented on date-to-be-determined, along with the other four members of the men's basketball "starting five." Additional awards being presented include the Bob Cousy Award (point guard), Jerry West Award (shooting guard), Karl Malone Award (power forward) and the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award (center). Previous winners of the Julius Erving Award are Wendell Moore Jr. of Duke (2022), Corey Kispert of Gonzaga (2021), Saddiq Bey of Villanova (2020), Rui Hachimura of Gonzaga (2019), Mikal Bridges of Villanova (2018), Josh Hart of Villanova (2017), Denzel Valentine of Michigan State (2016) and Stanley Johnson of Arizona (2015).
2023 Julius Erving Award Candidates
Matthew Cleveland (Florida State)
Jaime Jaquez Jr. (UCLA)
Keyontae Johnson (Kansas State)
Colby Jones (Xavier)
Brandon Miller (Alabama)
Kevin Obanor (Texas Tech)
Julian Strawther (Gonzaga)
Baylor Scheierman (Creighton)
Brice Sensabaugh (Ohio State)
Jalen Wilson (Kansas)
*note: student-athletes can play their way onto and off the list during the 2022-23 season
