Eric Dailey Jr. Christmas time check in after 13 games

Eric Dailey Jr. returned to UCLA this season for his junior year. After transferring to UCLA from Oklahoma State before the 2024-25 season. His return was seen as a plus, beginning his second year in Cronin’s system. With many players hitting the transfer portal such William Kyle III, Aday Mara, Sebastian Mack and Dylan Andrews. Tyler Bilodeau, Skyy Clark and Dailey Jr. were solid to keep around for another year. It gave some stability at some positions and allowed UCLA to focus on bringing in number one target Donovan Dent.

Dailey Jr. is a lanky player that uses his length well on offense and then to disrupt lanes on defense. Last season due to UCLA playing smaller he played a lot of power forward. His natural position has always been small forward. With a move back to that position, it was seen as a positive for his outlook. Dailey Jr. can handle the ball on the wing and knock down jump shots. Making for a good player that would benefit from Dent coming over and being the floor general.

Dailey Jr. started out the season very well shooting the ball. He has also bumped up his rebound numbers to 5.6 per game. But over his last five games before the UC Riverside game, he was in a bit of a slump. Including a 0-point night in the win over Washington. A game that UCLA just barely made it to the finish line and won 82-80. He responded well in the UC Riverside game which is hopefully a sign of positive things to come. He went 5-7 in that game for 13 points.

Dailey Jr. will play a big part in UCLA’s success. The Bruins will need the best that they can get out of him. He was one of the players that UCLA wanted to keep over the offseason. They were to achieve that goal and are ready for it to pay off. The offensive game is there at times, but they need the consistency. It is there and they will need him to get back to his first six games. Where four of those he scored at least 13 points and was shooting 55% from the floor.