As UCLA Athletics takes a break for the summer, professional sports are still in full swing, with many Bruins, past and present, representing their teams. Throughout the summer, Daily Bruin Sports will take a look at the standout performances of current and former UCLA athletes as we count down the days until fall.
Men’s basketball: Eric Dailey Jr., Team USA 3×3 Nations League
While some Bruins are NBA-bound, others are going global.
Guard/forward Eric Dailey Jr. competed for Team USA’s 3×3 Nations League squad from June 27 to July 3 in Santiago, Chile, helping the Americans secure an undefeated campaign and qualify for the FIBA 3×3 U23 World Cup set to be hosted in September in Wuhan, China.
With five teammates who also play at the collegiate level, Dailey and Team USA went on a tour with six “stops,” each with three matches, competing in the Americas tournament in a pool featuring Canada, Puerto Rico, Chile, Argentina and the Cayman Islands.
The rising senior appeared in 12 of Team USA’s 18 games, sitting out the first and fourth stops. Across a dozen matches, Dailey averaged 6.8 points per game – in a game format of one- and two-point field goals – and led the team in scoring in five of those contests, three of which came in the final stop, when the Palmetto, Florida, local tallied 25 of his 82 total points.
Arguably Dailey’s best performance, however, came in the final match of the third stop against Argentina, when he posted one of his two 10-point performances of the tournament, pacing the game. He drilled two 2-pointers and used his 6-foot-8 frame to draw and sink three free throws.
The match was a back-and-forth battle, with the Americans boasting a narrow 14-13 advantage until Dailey went on to score six of the last seven points for Team USA, including the game’s last three tallies, to clinch the five-point victory.
As a unit, the American squad won its first-to-21 matches by an average margin of 7.6 points.
But this was not Dailey’s first time competing at the international level.
The Bruin competed in both the 2021 and 2022 FIBA U18 Men’s World Cups, helping Team USA clinch gold in the former year. Dailey also won gold in the 2022 FIBA U18 Men’s AmeriCup in addition to participating in the 2023 Nike Hoop Summit and the 2023 FIBA U19 Men’s World Cup.
Men’s basketball: Tyler Bilodeau, Brooklyn Nets
For most NBA players, no matter how great they are now, the path to making a name for themselves begins the July before their rookie season.
And for former UCLA forward Tyler Bilodeau, that journey is no different.
Bilodeau was selected with the 43rd overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft in June as part of a three-player cohort of rookies to the Brooklyn Nets and played alongside No. 6 pick Mikel Brown Jr. in the NBA California Classic Summer League from July 3 to July 6.
[Related: Brooklyn Nets select UCLA’s Tyler Bilodeau with No. 43 pick]
While the UCLA alum sat out of Brooklyn’s second game against the Milwaukee Bucks, Bilodeau started the other two matches, combining for 27 points and 11 rebounds.
Entering the NBA Draft, Bilodeau’s most promising aspect was his three-point prowess. In two years at UCLA, the 6-foot-8 forward shot 43.8% from downtown, including a Big Ten-best 46.4% in his senior season on a career-high 4.5 attempts per game.
And that skill was on full display in Bilodeau’s second outing, helping defeat the Golden State Warriors 100-79.
Across 28 minutes of action, the rookie poured in 18 points, all of which came off three-pointers, drilling six of his nine attempts.
Brooklyn’s Summer League squad went 2-1 in the California Classic – a showcase hosted between San Francisco and Sacramento that featured seven teams – and will begin playing in the NBA-wide Las Vegas tournament starting Friday against the New York Knicks.
Bilodeau, who signed a one-year two-way contract, will be eligible to play in up to 50 NBA regular-season games and will split time between Brooklyn and its G League affiliate in Long Island. He will not be able to appear in potential postseason play unless converted to a standard contract.
With the rookie not currently listed on the Nets’ depth chart according to ESPN, Bilodeau will likely serve most of his time in the G League, barring major injuries to the main squad. However, his next several appearances in the Summer League will be opportunities to further showcase his talents and potentially force his way onto coach Jordi Fernández’s bench.
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