As the 2022-23 NCAA season progressed, the UCLA Bruins emerged as legitimate national title contender. A big part of their strong season was the emergence of Jaylen Clark as a defensive presence and all-around key player. Clark's role has increased each season he's been at UCLA and his play this season had fans dreaming of a deep March Madness run. Unfortunately for Clark his season was cut short when he injured his Achilles during the Pac-12 Tournament. While Clark is out for rest of the season, his UCLA teammates, including Jaime Jaquez are dedicating the remainder of this season to Clark.
“I think we're playing a lot of Jaylen this tournament,” Jaquez said. “I took a page out of J-Rock's book, trying to get steals, trying to be active with my hands, try to do it for him.”
Clark also received a message of support from freshman teammate Dylan Andrews.
UCLA's Dylan Andrews on Jaylen Clark: "I miss my roommate, I miss my teammate, but we’re going to keep going, we’re going to keep pushing. That’s one of our motivations right there, we want to get this banner for Rock."
— Ben Bolch (@latbbolch) March 17, 2023
Jaylen Clark's numbers were up across the board this season. A junior, Clark averaged 13.0 points per game, 6.0 rebounds and 2.6 steals with shooting splits of 48.1 percent shooting from the field, 32.9 percent shooting from the three-point line and 69.8 percent shooting from the free-throw line. Clark was named to the All-Pac-12 Second Team and won the conference Defensive Player of the Year Award.
In the meantime, Jaime Jaquez and UCLA won their March Madness opening round game against UNC Asheville on Thursday. They will take on Northwestern in the second round. Should Clark make a full recovery, he will return to UCLA next season as a junior and one of the top players on the team.
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