Johnny Juzang leads the charge for UCLA men’s basketball
LOS ANGELES — Johnny Juzang is returning to UCLA for his junior year after a memorable run to the Final Four of last season’s NCAA Tournament.
Juzang had a solid regular season with the Bruins in his sophomore season, averaging 16 points per game on the year. Where he really excelled, however, was under the bright lights of the NCAA Tournament as he led the No. 11 seed UCLA Bruins all the way to the Final Four and a near shot at the championship game. UCLA and Juzang’s runs were cut short of a championship appearance by a miracle game-winner for Gonzaga’s Jalen Suggs in the last second of the game.
In the tournament, Juzang averaged well over his season total as he was at the top in scoring averaging for UCLA at almost 23 points per game, including 28 and 29 points in the Elite Eight and Final Four games, respectively. This put Juzang on the map and made him one of the most popular college basketball players last season.
Coming out of high school, Juzang was a four-star recruit who had offers from across the country at major college programs. He was the 30th ranked overall high school prospect in the class of 2019 and the fourth highest ranked player in California. Juzang ultimately committed to play basketball at one of the top programs in the nation in Kentucky where he would be coached by legendary coach John Calipari. In his freshman season with Kentucky, Juzang only started two games and averaged just 12 minutes per game. He decided to transfer to UCLA after his freshman season which led to that historic run in the tournament for him and UCLA in 2021.
This upcoming 2021-22 season could be even bigger for Juzang. The Bruins have been picked to finish first in the Pac-12 for the first time since 2011-2012 and they are returning all five of their starters, along with new additions Rutgers transfer Myles Johnson and five-star freshman Payton Watson. College basketball analyst Andy Katz has Juzang ranked as his No. 1 returning college player for the upcoming season and NBA scouts are taking notice. While he was slated to be an early second round pick in 2021, Juzang has already seen his stock rise inside the first round in some mock drafts.
Juzang was the first player to sign with WME Sports as a part of the NCAA’s new NIL program to take advantage of his likeness as one of the most popular college basketball players in the country.
“NIL is such a great opportunity for collegiate athletes to generate something from their name while in school,” Juzang stated. “At the end of the day, it’s their name.” Part of his deal with WME Sports linked him with the Los Angeles-based sports apparel company Legends.
Juzang put his name in this spring for the 2021 NBA Draft but pulled back in favor of another season at UCLA.
The UCLA coach, Mick Cronin, spoke on having Juzang back this year saying, “We are very excited Johnny will be returning to UCLA. Johnny was an important addition to our team last year.” Another year at UCLA could improve Juzang’s draft stock and just might win him a national championship.
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