UCLA Basketball Signs Three to 2019 Class

When day one of the early signing period opened yesterday for Division I Men’s Basketball, the UCLA Bruins had three members sign their National Letter of Intent and officially become part of the Bruins’ 2019 recruiting class.

The first is Jake Kyman, a 6’6” small forward out of Santa Margarita Catholic High School in Santa Margarita. He averages around 16 points per game and 5-6 rebounds and actually entered his junior season with a fairly low national ranking. After a successful junior year, he started seeing offers from other Pac 12 schools like Colorado and Southern Cal and was also fielding offers from BYU, LSU, and other mid-major schools.

Although Kyman was recruited as a small forward, he is able to play several different positions and can contribute with both defensively and offensively. At one point this year, he held future teammate Shareef O’Neal to single-digit scoring while scoring 31 points.

Here are highlights of that game, thanks to Mars Reel:

Next, we have Jaime Jaquez, Jr., a 6’7” small forward out of Adolfo Camarillo High School in Camarillo. He has size and athleticism and is set to be the first Hispanic player signed by UCLA since Lorenzo Mata in 2006. According to an LA Times article by Eric Sondheimer, the two actually crossed paths when Jaquez went to Mexico earlier this year to try out for the Mexican national team. Sondheimer’s article also mentions that Jaquez and Mata spoke about the UCLA program and how much he is bound to enjoy himself.

Jaquez is versatile as well, can grab offensive rebounds, and has some mad dunking skills for his size. In the video below from Courtside Films, there’s a pretty nasty one at about the 0:26 mark. Last season, he averaged 31 points and 12.8 rebounds.

When reading about this guy, he sounds like the kind of player Coach would have recruited. He is a leader and knows that younger kids will be looking up to him. He has the character and skill set that already makes him a Bruin.

And finally, we have Grant Sherfield, a guard originally from the Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas area, but now Wichita, Kansas. Just over a year ago, Sherfield verbally committed to UCLA, but has now made that commitment official.

According to Rivals, he is a capable scorer and can shoot from the outside as well as inside through traffic. Eric Bossi of Rivals calls him “a high scoring guard who has a strong frame and loads of confidence” while also comparing him to former Bruin Aaron Holiday.

Here are his highlights from the NBPA Top 100 Camp. Thanks to Rivals for this video.

The early signing period closes on November 21 and it doesn’t look likely that UCLA will sign any more players during this period. The traditional signing period will open on April 17, 2019.

Welcome to Westwood, Jake, Jaime and Grant!


Go Bruins!