Both of UCLA’s stars are on preseason watch lists for the top award at their position. Tyger Campbell is on the preseason Bob Cousy Award watch list for the best point guard in the country.

And Jaime Jaquez Jr. is one of 20 men on the preseason watch list for the Julius Erving Award, which honors the nation’s best small forward.

The 6-foot-7 Jaquez was honored as a first-team All-Pac-12 selection last season and then again as a preseason first-team pick heading into the new year. He averaged 13.9 points and a team-best 5.7 rebounds per game. He was also named to the Pac-12 All-Defensive Team for the second consecutive year.

Jaquez had the chance to try and jump to the NBA this offseason but elected to return to Westwood for another year in the hopes of winning a Pac-12 title and hanging another national championship banner inside Pauley Pavilion. The Bruins open the year as the Pac-12’s preseason pick to win the conference and the No. 8 team in the country.

College basketball’s annual position-by-position watch lists, as announced by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, are being revealed this week. UCLA freshman Amari Bailey was also named to the watch list for the Jerry West Award (shooting guard) on Tuesday.

Jaquez was a finalist for the Julius Erving Award last season, and he’s a threat to take it home this season. The group will be trimmed to 10 names in late January with five finalists selected the following month. Those five finalists will be presented in March of 2023 before the Hall of Fame selection committee. A winner will be presented at a date still to be determined, alongside the other four positional award winners.

The full preseason watch list for the Julius Erving Award is below:

  • Brandon Miller, Alabama
  • Pelle Larsson, Arizona
  • Jordan Walsh, Arkansas
  • Baylor Scheierman, Creighton
  • Dariq Whitehead, Duke
  • Matthew Cleveland, Florida State
  • Julian Strawther, Gonzaga
  • Jalen Wilson, Kansas
  • Chris Livingston, Kentucky
  • Jamison Battle, Minnesota
  • Leaky Black, North Carolina
  • Caleb McConnell, Rutgers
  • Harrison Ingram, Stanford
  • Josiah-Jordan James, Tennessee
  • Timmy Allen, Texas
  • Kevin Obanor, Texas Tech
  • Jaime Jaquez Jr., UCLA
  • Cam Whitmore, Villanova
  • Tyler Wahl, Wisconsin
  • Colby Jones, Xavier