In the years before she starred for UCLA, Gabriela Jaquez loved to tag along with her parents to watch older brother Jaimeplay basketball for the Bruins.
Except for the time when she felt she needed to do homework and didn’t accompany them on the drive from Camarillo toPauley Pavilion.
Jaime made the game-winning 3-pointer against Arizona State as a freshman, starting to cement the family legacy inside itscollege basketball home.
“After that,” Gabriela told The California Post, “I was like, dang it, you know, I’m going to do what I can to go.”
Missing anything that the Jaquez siblings have done as Bruins over these last seven seasons — including one in which they overlapped — has been a regrettable experience.
As a sophomore so determined to win that he once crawled across the court to chase a loose ball, Jaime helped UCLA reach the Final Four. As a senior, he was the Pac-12 Player of the Year on a team that could have won a national title had it not lost two starters to injury.
Gabriela has enjoyed her own storybook rise with the women’s team, long ago shedding the label of Jaime’s little sister. She was part of a Final Four run last season and could help the second-ranked Bruins capture their first NCAA championship this spring.
Along the way, the Jaquez siblings have become two of the most beloved players in UCLA history. That will make Gabriela’s final regular-season home game against Wisconsin on Sunday the end of an era for not only her family but also an entire basketball community.
“It’s going to bring a tear to my eye, man,” father Jaime Jaquez said. “It’s just like, I can’t believe it’s over, I’m still shocked it happened so fast.”
Jaime and Angela Jaquez zipped along on the way to Gabriela’s game earlier this week.
Source: California Post – Breaking California News, Photos & Videos
