This post was last updated on April 20 at 9:45 p.m.
After testing the waters a year ago, Johnny Juzang is officially bidding adieu to Westwood.
The UCLA men’s basketball junior guard will declare for the 2022 NBA Draft, Juzang announced via Instagram on Wednesday morning. Unlike last year, it is expected that he will sign with an agent and forgo his remaining two seasons of collegiate eligibility.
Juzang ends his two-year Bruin career with per game averages of 15.8 points and 4.4 rebounds after transferring from Kentucky in 2020.
“I’ll forever be a Bruin and we’ll all remember the great moments we had,” Juzang wrote in his Instagram post. “I’m going to continue to represent UCLA and the city of Los Angeles professionally now, as I am entering the 2022 NBA Draft.”
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A former four-star recruit out of Harvard-Westlake School, Juzang hit the ground running his sophomore year. Juzang averaged 16 points per game in his first season donning the blue and gold, including a 21.3 point per game average in the postseason en route to UCLA’s 2021 Final Four and an All-Tournament team selection.
Following the 2021 draft process, in which he opted to return to UCLA, the guard entered the 2021-2022 campaign as a preseason All-American according to numerous publications and averaged nearly 20 points a night through the first half of the season. But an ankle injury in late February hampered Juzang down the stretch, as he was limited to 11 points per night in the final seven contests of the year.
“Johnny has been tremendous for us during his two seasons in Westwood,” said coach Mick Cronin. “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 is currently not mocked in ESPN’s full two-round mock draft.
UCLA has already lost freshman guard/forward Peyton Watson and senior guard Jules Bernard to the draft, though Bernard did not sign with an agent, and junior guard/forward Jake Kyman to the transfer portal. Junior guard/forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. – a projected draft selection – announced his plans to return Monday. Should Bernard and redshirt senior forward Cody Riley return, Juzang will be the first starter lost by Cronin in the last two seasons.
“Thank you to the coaching staff, the trainers, the staff, my teammates, and my friends and family for making this experience so beautiful,” Juzang wrote. “Goodbye from Juzang.”
