Published Apr 12, 2023
UCLA PG Tyger Campbell declares for NBA draft
Tracy McDannald  •  BruinBlitz
Staff Writer
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@Tracy_McDannald

The UCLA men’s basketball team will be considerably younger and have plenty of leadership roles to fill when the 2023-24 season rolls around.

Point guard Tyger Campbell announced Wednesday via social media that he will enter the NBA draft, forgoing his remaining bonus year of eligibility.

Campbell, who is playing in the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament over the next four days along with 63 other college seniors, called his time at UCLA “an incredible ride” in an Instagram post.

“It’s hard for me to describe how special my time at UCLA has been,” Campbell wrote. “It has been an absolute honor to wear the four letters across my chest and be part of this program for five years.”

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Over his career, Campbell was a three-time All-Pac-12 Conference first-team selection. He ranks No. 2 on UCLA’s all-time list with 655 assists and 10th with 133 games played.

This past season, Campbell’s 3.2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio led the conference and ranked third in the nation.

“Tyger Campbell has been a huge part of our success,” Bruins head coach Mick Cronin said in a statement. ““He has shown so much heart, hustle and grit in how he led this team and how he overcame a knee injury that wiped out his first season in Westwood. Tyger has so many great intangible qualities, but simply put, he is a winner. He’s had an unbelievable career at UCLA and will go down as one of this program’s most accomplished point guards.”

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Campbell is currently playing in the Portsmouth Invitational along with outgoing UCLA fifth-year senior guard David Singleton.

Last week, UCLA forward Jaime Jaquez Jr., the Pac-12 player of the year, also announced he will enter the draft and not use his bonus year.

Bruins junior guard Jaylen Clark, who suffered an Achilles injury in the final game of the regular season, also declared for the draft after the season. Clark did, however, hire an NCAA-certified agent and left the door open for a return.

Meanwhile, forward/center Kenneth Nwuba is returning to the program for his sixth season.

UCLA is now awaiting the decisions from its standout freshmen, guard Amari Bailey and forward/center Adem Bona.

The future of the point guard position for the Bruins is bright, with Dylan Andrews showing flashes in his first year last season. The program also is bringing in four-star combo guard Sebastian Mack as part of the 2023 recruiting class.

In the transfer portal this past weekend, UCLA also secured a commitment from former Utah wing Lazar Stefanovic.