UCLA's Eric Dailey Jr. Named to Julius Erving Award Watch List
October 29, 2025 | Men's Basketball
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. โ UCLA junior Eric Dailey Jr. has been selected to the 20-person watch list for this season's Julius Erving Award, which honors the nation's best collegiate small forward.
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Dailey Jr., a 6-foot-8 guard/forward from Palmetto, Fla., averaged 11.4 points and 4.0 rebounds per game with the Bruins as a sophomore last season. He averaged 23.5 minutes per game and was second on the team in scoring. He also ranked third on the team in 3-point shooting percentage (37.8 percent), shooting 50.7 percent overall from the field. Dailey Jr. totaled 42 steals (1.3 spg), the third-highest total on the team.
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After spending his freshman season (2023-24) at Oklahoma State, Dailey Jr. transferred to UCLA in the summer of 2024. Last season, he scored at least 20 points in four games and finished with a career-best 25 points in UCLA's regular-season finale at home versus USC.
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The 2025-26 season will mark the 12th year in which the Julius Erving Award recognizes the top small forward in NCAA Division I men's basketball. This award is named after Class of 1993 Hall of Famer and 17-year professional basketball standout Julius Erving. Last season, the Julius Erving Award was presented to Cooper Flagg of Duke University. UCLA has never had a player win the Julius Erving Award.
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College basketball's annual position-by-position watch lists, as announced by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, are being revealed this week.
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As the college basketball progresses, the watch list for the Julius Erving Award will remain fluid with student-athletes being able to move onto the list (until the final five are selected). The list will narrow down to 10 student-athletes in late January, before the final five are announced in March. The award winner this season will be revealed with a presentation at the 2026 Final Four in Indianapolis.
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In addition, fan voting will open shortly, with fans being able to vote for their favorite point guard. The student-athlete who receives the most votes will earn one additional vote from the award committee. Additional information about this year's fan vote and positional awards is available online by visiting http://www.hoophallawards.com. ย
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2025-26 Julius Erving Award Candidates (preseason watch list)
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Karter Knox (Arkansas)
Tounde Yessoufou (Baylor)
A.J. Dybantsa (BYU)
Dame Sarr (Duke)
Derrion Reid (Oklahoma)
Isiah Harwell (Houston)
Andrej Stojakovic (Illinois)
Tucker DeVries (Indiana)
Milan Momcilovic (Iowa State)
Coen Carr (Michigan State)
Darrion Williams (N.C. State)
Devin Royal (Ohio State)
Fletcher Loyer (Purdue)
Miles Byrd (SDSU)
Nate Ament (Tennessee)
Dailyn Swain (Texas)
LeJuan Watts (Texas Tech)
Eric Dailey Jr. (UCLA)
Braylon Mullins (UConn)
Chad Baker-Mazara (USC)
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