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INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Johnny Juzang’s impact at UCLA has been immediate since his transfer from Kentucky, giving the Bruins the scorer and dynamic player they’ve missed in recent years.
The junior guard is playing his best at the right time, leading the Bruins into the Final Four for the first time since 2008.
Juzang also had a much wider impact, although this was unintentional.
Screened to be the first Asian-American NBA first-round pick, possibly in the lottery, he has become an inspiration to young players at a time when hate crimes against Asian Americans are at hand. the rise.
“It’s not something that concerns me or that I really think about. I’m just Johnny, ” said Juzang, whose mother is Vietnamese. “I will receive messages or hear stories about how I inspire people, regardless of their heritage. Sometimes there are people of Asian descent. But being able to inspire people is something that touches and inspires me and that I don’t take lightly. ”
Juzang’s older brother Christian played at Harvard and led the Saigon Heat to the 2020 Vietnam Basketball Association Championship.
Christian was the top pick in the VBA Draft, and young Juzang looks to have an even brighter professional future. He has thrived on the pitch since moving to Westwood. A former five-star rookie, the 6-foot-6 guard was a role player on a loaded Kentucky team, averaging 2.9 points and 1.9 assists in 28 games as a rookie.
Shortly after the coronavirus pandemic season ended, Juzang announced that he was transferring and then chose UCLA to be closer to his family in Tarzana, California.
Juzang missed the first four games of the 2020-21 season with a foot injury, but he’s a big reason the Bruins were able to overcome Chris Smith’s season-ending knee injury in early January.
Juzang was the Bruins’ leading scorer with 15.5 points per game while shooting 34% from the 3-point arc and appeared to improve as the season progresses. He’s scored at least 20 points three times in the NCAA tournament, including 28 against Michigan to clinch a spot in the Final Four.
And he did it on an ankle that has been bothering him for weeks.
“He’s more of a goalscorer than a shooter and I think that’s what he was labeled in Kentucky,” UCLA coach Mick Cronin said. I wanted him to get rid of that state of mind. We really worked hard on his midrange and get him to the basket. He has grown enormously. ”
Juzang’s length and skill have cast him as a possible lottery pick in next year’s NBA Draft. It will be history if it is.
Jeremy Lin was a star at Harvard before his days as Linsanity in the NBA and his long professional career. Kihei Clark, who is Filipino American, did one of the biggest plays in Virginia’s 2019 championship run and has just completed his junior season.
Remy Martin of Arizona State has had a distinguished four-year career in the desert and Jordan Clarkson, who is also Filipino American, has a regular career in the NBA after playing in Tulsa and Missouri.
Gonzaga’s Rui Hachimura was a lottery pick, but he is originally from Japan. Yao Ming has never played college basketball, moving straight from the Chinese national team to the NBA.
Juzang is a rarity as an Asian American in college basketball with clear NBA potential.
“ I think it’s going to be a really important moment and I think the more that can be felt where it’s normal, I think that’s what can make it even more meaningful, ” Miami Heat coach Eric Spoelstra, who is the Filipino mother, said without specifically talking about Juzang. “It doesn’t matter your race or your background. As long as you can hoop people can see you that way. ”
High or low draft pick, Juzang has been an inspiration to players, especially young Asian Americans. Hate crimes against Asian Americans have increased during the pandemic, as has vitriol on social media and beyond towards people of Asian descent.
Juzang’s success and UCLA’s run in the Final Four drew positive responses from Vietnam and around the world.
“It’s always a good feeling to hear people, but I wouldn’t say it’s in the front of my mind,” he said.
Maybe not, but it helps – at least a little.
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Tim Reynolds, editor of AP Basketball, contributed to this story.
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