Jaquez Siblings Helping UCLA Men, Women Succeed on Court

LOS ANGELES—Jaime Jaquez Jr. is having the type of senior season at UCLA most players dream about.

He was a 6-foot-7 forward who led the team in rebounding and scoring as the fourth-ranked Bruins claimed their first Pac-12 regular-season title.

It has been a great year for Jaquez, and he’s not the only one making an impact. Gabriela Jaquez is enjoying an excellent season on the Bruins’ women’s basketball team, which ranks 19th.

“Having a little sister around, you don’t really appreciate that when you’re in high school. But I’m older now and starting to get a little bit more wisdom. It’s a pretty cool deal,” Jaime stated.

Gabriela says that it has been easier to adjust to college when Gabriela is surrounded by her older brother.

“It’s just been a lot of fun being able to hang out with him outside of basketball and doing other things,” Sie said. “Usually, after his games, I’ll go to his apartment. We’ll eat and talk about the game. I listen to him and his teammates talk about the game, and I try to see what I can learn from that.”

The season’s opening was a memorable one for UCLA and UCLA.

Gabriela was able to score 10 points as well as six rebounds when she played her first college match against Cal-Poly. Jaime finished with 14 points and seven boards in UCLA’s win over Sacramento State a couple hours later.

Jaime was expected at the beginning of the season to be a leader for UCLA. Jaime has proven to be a Pac-12 player of the year, and he is favored for the award.

Jaime is on pace to become the sixth player in conference history when he plays No. Jaime has the potential to surpass No. 8 Arizona as only the sixth conference player.