Jaime Jaquez says playing in NCAA Tournament is still 'surreal'

Jaime Jaquez has been essential to UCLA returning to the forefront of the college basketball world through multiple electric NCAA Tournament runs.

While the Bruins haven’t lifted the trophy yet during Jaques’s time in Los Angeles, the work he’s put in to return UCLA to a beast that’s feared by many can’t be understated. Speaking with the media after making it to the Sweet Sixteen once again, Jaquez explained that the wildness of being in the NCAA Tournament never gets turned down for him.

“It becomes surreal for me,” explained Jaquez. “And I know, I think Tyger and Amari can speak to that as well. I think it’s hard. Me and Tyger talk a lot after games about just trying to understand and realize the bigger picture and take ourselves out of our shoes and look at what we’ve really done as a group together.And we look back. And we’re proud of what we’ve accomplished so far. Obviously, we’re still here. We’re still playing. And we’ve got a lot more to do.

“But when we look back, we’re very proud of the effort and hard work that we put in to building this program to what it is today.”

Back in the 2021 NCAA Tournament, Jaquez played a huge role on an upstart UCLA squad that shocked the world by making it to the Final Four. While the run was amazing, it came to an end in soul-crushing fashion, as a buzzer-beater ended the Bruins’ season against the Gonzaga Bulldogs. Ironically enough, that’s who UCLA will face on Thursday.

While Jaquez’s 19 point effort from back then doesn’t mean a thing for Thursday’s game, it’s hard not to have memories flood back of that game. In-between the two Gonzaga showdowns though is last year’s run, which ended in the Sweet Sixteen in Philadelphia against the North Carolina Tar Heels.

Jaquez was stymied by the Tar Heels last season, scoring ten points on 5-of-18 shooting. UCLA fell by a score of 73-66, and their hoping to get back to the Final Four instead of falling in the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament once again.

Recently, the Bruins star has been on fire, scoring 24 points in UCLA’s Round of 32 matchup against the Northwestern Wildcats, getting his team to the Sweet Sixteen. Jaime Jaquez is made for March, so all eyes will be on UCLA, especially if they can avenge their demons and defeat the Bulldogs on Thursday.