In the 1970s, siblings Dave and Ann Meyers helped UCLA to the apex of college basketball, winning both men’s and women’s championships. Nearly a half century later, another pair of siblings, Jaime and Gabriela Jaquez, are hoping to help raise more championship banners in Pauley Pavilion. Gabriela and Jaime joined Kelvin Washington on “LA Times Today.”
The siblings grew up playing basketball, both fell in love with the sport and wanted to play in college. Jaime talked about playing the game with his siblings as kids.
“We all went down to the park across the street from our house and we would start playing pickup basketball, just teasing each other, trying to make each other better. We obviously played one-on-one with each other, having a battle of trying to see who can make the most in around the world. We’ve always had a lot of competition in our family and that continues today,” he said.
Gabriela has had big basketball dreams since third grade. She spoke about the goals she had made for herself early on.
“I think that having that mindset at such a young age and knowing where I wanted to be and how I wanted to get there really helped me achieve it,” Gabriela shared. “I think that was really important for me to stay on the right path. Because when times would get hard, I’d just remember that I want to get here. I want to play Division I basketball. I want to play at UCLA, and I think that really helps.”
As an older brother, Jaime offered advice for Gabriela as she embarks on her college basketball career.
“Just enjoy it as much as you can. You’re in college. It’s a new environment. You’re on your own for the first time. Make sure you take care of your responsibilities, but enjoy it because it goes like that... And then on the court, just get adjusted. It’s a new, faster, more physical game and just do everything you can to keep your body intact,” Jaime said.
The siblings talked about their goals for the upcoming season.
“It means a lot going into obviously last year of my career here, just being ready to go with my guys. I’ve got a lot of teammates that I’ve been through this experience with, like Tyler Campbell. [We’re] just hoping for the best and doing everything we can to try to get back to where we were two years ago for a year,” Jaime said.
“I think for us, we’re a really young team and we’re a new team. And I think just our main goal this year is just to win games. We’ve just got to win games and get people to come to Pauley and watch,” Gabriela said.
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