Mick Cronin and the UCLA Bruins made another addition in the transfer portal Sunday night, landing a commitment from Texas Tech guard Jaylen Petty according to On3 Sports’ Joe Tipton.
Jaylen Petty nearly averaged double-digits as a freshman
Petty just wrapped up his freshman season with the Red Raiders, posting a respectable 9.9 points and 3.9 rebounds per game over 33 games for the 23-11 Texas Tech team that reached the Round of 32 in the NCAA tournament.
Texas Tech trusted the young guard
The Seattle, Washington native was ready for the jump to college basketball, with Petty starting 22 games for the Red Raiders, while averaging 30.5 minutes per game. Petty shot 41% from the floor and 38% from three on 5.6 attempts from deep per game.
Petty will need to be efficient from three
Petty’s three-point shooting accounted for most of his offensive production as a freshman, with the 6’1” guard having over 68% of his total field goal attempts come from behind the arc. Even though Petty has the size of a point guard, he didn’t show a true point guard skillset with Texas Tech, finishing third on the team with 2.2 assists.
UCLA has room for Petty in their rotation
Petty was a four-star recruit for the Red Raiders in the class of 2026, with 247 Sports having Petty ranked as the No. 9 point guard in the class. With Donovan Dent graduating and Skyy Clark entering the transfer portal, UCLA will return Eric Freeny and Trent Perry in their backcourt, meaning that there’s plenty of room for Petty to carve out a significant role on the Bruins.
The Bruins now have three portal entries
UCLA has now added three transfers this offseason, with Petty joining forwards Filip Jovic and Sergej Macura, who committed to the Bruins last week.
This article originally appeared on UCLA Wire: UCLA adds exciting guard Jaylen Petty through the transfer portal
Reporting by Dylan McNeill, UCLA Wire / UCLA Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
