The NBA's ‘one-and-done' rule has been subject to criticism over the years. While there are plenty of success stories of players coming into the league right out of high school or after their freshman year of college, there too is also that of players who stay all four years. Miami Heat rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. is one of the latter.
Jaquez stayed at UCLA for four seasons, even after being a projected draft pick following his sophomore and junior seasons. Injuries played a factor, but Jaquez said that he wanted and needed to learn things while playing college basketball before making the transition to the pros.
He detailed some of those things during an appearance on “The Old Man & The Three” podcast.
“I think the biggest thing or the biggest advantage that I gained is understanding winning, and what that takes and what that means. And really understanding the little things about basketball,” Jaquez said. “I think in one year as a freshman it's kind of hard to really take that in and understand what that is. And you know you have four years of development, especially under the coach that I had where winning was everything. If we ever lost a game it was like the end of the world.
“So learning what it took, and the work, and the preparation, I think really helped me to take that next step and go into the NBA with that knowledge of what it takes to win and what that really means.”
Jaquez was a standout for Mick Cronin at UCLA, twice earning first-team All-Pac-12 honors as a junior and senior. He was also named Pac-12 Player of the Year in 2023 and was a major part of a Bruins team that reached the Final Four in 2021.
Jaquez thriving with Heat in first NBA season
Jaquez has taken a lot of what he learned and developed in college and transitioned it into a solid rookie season in the NBA. The Heat saw enough to select him 18th overall in last year's draft and he's rewarded them by becoming a key cog in their rotation as they battle for position in the Eastern Conference.
Jaquez has 19 starts in the 63 games he's played this season, averaging 12.4 points, four rebounds and 2.6 assists per game. His signature performance came on Christmas Day when he notched a 31-point double-double in a Heat win over the Philadelphia 76ers. He has seven other games with at least 20 points, four of them off the bench.
Jaime Jaquez Jr. is not a rare exception or a unicorn in the NBA, but he is in a smaller class of players who let themselves develop both professionally and personally in college before turning pro.
It's paid off for him so far and it sounds like he hopes more young athletes will take his advice and remain in college beyond their freshman year.
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