What men’s basketball’s four new players could bring to the court

UCLA men’s basketball will not only welcome a new coaching staff to Westwood for the 2019-2020 season, but also four Bruins who will take the court at Pauley Pavilion in blue and gold for the first time Wednesday night. Whether they missed last season due to injury or just joined the team over the summer, coach Mick Cronin and UCLA will have four new players to work with this season.

Shareef O’Neal
Player Comparison No. 1: Jeff Green
Player Comparison No. 2: Aaron Gordon

Outside of his basketball pedigree and explosive athleticism, one of Shareef O’Neal’s most valuable attributes is his dynamism.

The redshirt freshman played power forward in high school and is listed at 6 feet, 9 inches, giving him the length to play down low at the college level. But O’Neal’s stroke from long range and ability to finish at the rim, which helped him average 27.6 points per game in his senior year at Crossroads School, suggest he can also be a score-first small forward for the Bruins.

O’Neal’s UCLA debut was delayed a year because of heart surgery, but he is back at full strength ahead of Wednesday’s season opener.

Depending on which way Cronin decides to use the son of Hall of Fame center Shaquille O’Neal, Shareef O’Neal’s career could go one of two ways.

If the younger O’Neal becomes more of a wing – focusing on his 3-point ability and scoring from mid-range – he could fit the mold of 11-year NBA veteran Jeff Green, another 6-foot-9 tweener forward. Green averaged 13.1 points and 6.5 rebounds per game on 35.9% shooting from long range across his three seasons at Georgetown, and O’Neal could be in line for similar numbers at UCLA.

Green also missed the 2011-2012 NBA season after undergoing a heart procedure – a coincidence for sure, but a notable one at that.

But if O’Neal bulks up and tailors his style more around his post moves and high-flying ability, he could resemble former top-10 draft pick Aaron Gordon, a one-and-done prospect who left Arizona in 2014. Gordon has made a career out of entertaining in dunk contests and hauling in rebounds, and O’Neal could do the same if he improves his strength below the basket.

No matter what, it’s safe to say O’Neal will be spending a lot of his freshman season above the rim.

Tyger Campbell
Player Comparison No. 1: Shane Larkin
Player Comparison No. 2: Phil Pressey

Another Bruin who missed last season due to injury could end up being the most integral piece in Cronin’s offense.

Redshirt freshman guard Tyger Campbell is the only true point guard on UCLA’s roster, setting him up to be a day-one starter and the team’s primary ballhandler. Campbell is only one year removed from a torn ACL, and he is already handling the pressures of running a college offense.

But if his 14-point, 11-assist performance in the Bruins’ preseason exhibition Oct. 30 is any indication, Campbell is up for the challenge.

Campbell’s 5-foot-11 frame is the smallest on the roster, and he also enters the season as the lightest Bruin at 180 pounds. As he’s coming back from a serious injury, durability for the young guard should be a concern, but he will be a great distributor as long as he’s on the court.

Although Campbell shot just 25% from 3-point range against Stanislaus State, his eight attempts showed that he isn’t afraid to let it fly from deep. He shot 42% from 3 while averaging 7.2 assists per game in his senior year at La Lumiere School, setting Campbell up to be both a floor general and outside threat.

The balance of shooting and passing ability conjures memories of former Miami point guard and 2012-2013 ACC Player of the Year Shane Larkin, who averaged 14.4 points and 4.6 assists per game on 40.5% 3-point shooting in his second season with the Hurricanes.

Another comparable talent is Phil Pressey, a three-year starter at Missouri who averaged 9.7 points and 5.9 assists per game while shooting 34.7% from deep in his Tiger career.

Campbell’s shooting ability is relatively up in the air, but his ballhandling and court vision set him up to be the Bruins’ best option at the point all season long.

Jaime Jaquez Jr.
Player Comparison No. 1: Tyler Honeycutt
Player Comparison No. 2: Luc Richard Mbah a Moute

While Jaime Jaquez Jr. is listed on the official roster as a guard/forward, the true freshman also boasts experience on the block.

Jaquez played both the three and the four in high school, and he is built to do more of the same in Westwood. The Bruins have plenty of true power forwards at their disposal, but Jaquez’s ability to guard three positions and run the floor at a high level sets him apart from the rest of the pack.

His primary role to start the season will be as a defensive spark plug off the bench, and his rebounding ability – shown in his 12.7 boards per game as a high school senior – will be a valuable asset as well.

The Camarillo, California, native likely won’t come near starter’s minutes his freshman year due to the depth at Cronin’s disposal on the outside. But Jaquez’s mature frame, above-average shooting ability and effort on the boards serves as a reminder of former Bruin Tyler Honeycutt.

The late Honeycutt averaged 7.2 points and 6.5 rebounds his freshman year with UCLA, improving those numbers to 12.8 and 7.2, respectively, in his sophomore season before forgoing his final two years of eligibility in 2011.

To go back a few years further in UCLA history, Jaquez’s ceiling is somewhere near former Bruin Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, who played the role of defensive stopper while averaging 8.7 points and 7.2 rebounds per game for former coach Ben Howland’s Final Four teams prior to his 11-year NBA career.

Jaquez will probably get buried on the depth chart early on, but knowing Cronin’s tendency to emphasize defense, the guard/forward could make a push as a key piece later in the season.

Jake Kyman
Player Comparison No. 1: Kevin Huerter
Player Comparison No. 2: Dijon Thompson

Boiling Jake Kyman’s play style down to one trait is pretty simple.

He’s a shooter.

The freshman out of Santa Margarita Catholic High School is the only new Bruin not to earn a four-star rating as a recruit, but Kyman’s ability to shoot the ball from deep is only rivaled by sophomore guard David Singleton.

While it may be over the top to compare the three-star freshman Kyman to 2018 first-round draft pick Kevin Huerter, their games are not too different. Both have good size for the shooting guard position and are consistent shooters from deep.

Huerter shot 39.4% from 3 on 5.4 attempts per game in his two-year career at Maryland, and Kyman shot 44% on 207 attempts his senior year of high school. The new Bruin also shot 85% from the charity stripe as a high school senior, demonstrating his raw shooting ability in a controlled environment.

Kyman will probably be riding the bench for most of his freshman year, but Cronin said he is planning on running an 11-man rotation early in the season. Another former Bruin shooter who played minimal minutes his first year in Westwood is Dijon Thompson, who wound up averaging 18.4 points per game on 37.4% 3-point shooting in his fourth and final season with UCLA in 2004-2005.

Kyman won’t be scoring at that level just yet, but he does have a chance to put his knock-down shooting ability on display this season.