Eric Dailey Jr. returns for year two in Westwood, as he looks to help UCLA compete in a crowded Big Ten. The Bruins who secured key transfer Donovan Dent from New Mexico have high March Madness aspirations. Dailey will play a huge role in the Bruins starting lineup that will have some changes being made for Mick Cronin. Dailey will likely make a move to starting at small forward, which is what Dailey calls his natural position.
With Dailey moving to small forward, it frees up the opportunity to put Tyler Bilodeau at power forward and slot in incoming transfer Xavier Booker at center. The Bruins are more equipped this season to play guys at their natural positions after having three guard lineups of Kobe Johnson, Dylan Andrews and Sebastian Mack last season. All three have since left the program with the latter of Andrews and Mack transferring to new schools.
Dailey Jr. had a productive first season with the Bruins in the 2024/25 season after transferring from Oklahoma State. He averaged 11.4 points on 50.7/37.8/72.1 shooting splits and featured an in and out game which opened up the offense. One of his best games came against the crosstown rival USC Trojans. In a 90-63-win Dailey Jr. was able to put his talent on display and give Bruins fans a show while beating USC, which is always an added plus.
Big-time performance from UCLA’s Eric Dailey Jr tonight:
— Those Four Letters (@krisjohnsonlive) March 9, 2025
30 min
25 pts
10-13 fg
4-5 3p
5 reb
3 stl
1 blk pic.twitter.com/YSz1qMtwrs
UCLA is an historic college which has for the most part been a basketball school. They have many NBA players that have come through the school. They have also won a record 11 NCAAB championships, but the last coming in 1995. They have made quite a few deep runs to the Final Four, but not much more to show. UCLA wants to end that drought in 2025/26 as they look to get back to prominence.
DaileyJr. will play a large role in that wish to see UCLA back on top. He will need to continue his three-level scoring and take another leap to help Skyy Clark, Dent and Bilodeau with the scoring load. The pieces are there, and UCLA has all the right tools to make this Cronin's most successful season yet.