Johnny Juzang Declares For NBA Draft, Forgoes Senior Year With UCLA Men's Basketball

A year after guiding the Bruins to their first Final Four in 13 years, Johnny Juzang is turning pro.

The UCLA men's basketball guard has declared for the 2022 NBA Draft, he announced on Instagram on Wednesday morning. While Juzang did not mention anything about hiring an agent or preserving his remaining eligibility in his farewell post, UCLA does not expect Juzang to be part of the team in the 2022-2023 season.

Juzang played two seasons in Westwood, leading the Bruins to a Final Four and Sweet 16 after transferring in from Kentucky. The Tarzana, California, native led UCLA in points per game in each of the last two campaigns, putting up 15.8 points a night across 57 appearances.

With Juzang gone, the Bruins have officially freed up the three scholarships necessary to make room for incoming freshmen Amari Bailey, Adem Bona and Dylan Andrews. Jake Kyman transferred to Wyoming earlier this month and Peyton Watson declared for the draft as well.

Jules Bernard declared for the draft Tuesday, but he preserved his eligibility and can still return to UCLA. Now, should he choose to do so, the Bruins wouldn't need another scholarship player to leave in order to make room for him.

UCLA already got Jaime Jaquez Jr. back in the fold Monday afternoon, and it is still awaiting public decisions from Cody Riley, Tyger Campbell, Myles Johnson and David Singleton.

Juzang is leaving that core regardless, though, removing the Bruins' leading scorer from the equation.

“Johnny has been tremendous for us during his two seasons in Westwood,” coach Mick Cronin said in a statement put out by the team. “Johnny and his teammates helped us win seven NCAA Tournament games in two postseason trips, leading our program on a thrilling run to the Final Four in 2021. Along the way, he has been a great teammate and a joy to be around every day. We will miss him. We all wish Johnny nothing but the best as he pursues his professional career. We thank him and his family for joining ours as Bruins. The UCLA family will always be there to support Johnny.”

Juzang began his college career at Kentucky, but despite his status as a four-star recruit who reclassified in order to enroll a year early, he mostly came off the bench early on. In that lone year with the Wildcats, Juzang put up 2.9 points in 12.3 minutes per game on .377/.326/.833 shooting splits.

After transferring to UCLA and missing the start of the 2020-2021 season with an injury, Juzang found his spot in Cronin's lineup. Juzang was part of the starting five within two games, immediately becoming the highest-volume shooter on the team. But throughout the regular season, Juzang had as many single-digit scoring performances as he did outings with 15-plus points.

That all changed when March rolled around, as Juzang wound up scoring the most points in a single NCAA tournament run by a Bruin since Gail Goodrich in 1965. Juzang scored 23, 27, 17, 13, 28 and 29 points in UCLA's six tournament games from the First Four to the Final Four, becoming a national icon as a result.

Juzang entered the NBA Draft in 2021 after that defining stretch, only to announce his return to college in July.

Starting off the season by putting up 25 points two times across the Bruins' first three games, Juzang kept his numbers relatively steady from the year prior. As a junior, Juzang ranked third in the Pac-12 with 15.6 points per game.

Juzang earned First Team All-Pac-12 honors after making the Second Team the year prior, also getting named a Third Team All-American by the National Association of Basketball Coaches. When the NCAA tournament came around in 2022, Juzang did not boast the explosive scoring numbers he did the year prior, but he still put up 37 points in UCLA's wins over Akron and St. Mary's and loss to North Carolina.

As he currently stands in most NBA mock drafts, Juzang is slotted in as a second round pick. He will presumably earn an invite to the NBA Draft Combine in May after appearing in it last year, where teams will be able to better gauge his stock ahead of the draft in June.

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