Rutgers freshman Ace Bailey, the projected No. 3 pick, will declare for the 2025 NBA draft and sign with Omar Cooper of Lifestyle Sports Agency, he told ESPN on Wednesday.
“I want to thank everyone at Rutgers,” Bailey said. “The community for supporting us and traveling across the country to watch us. My teammates, coaches and support staff. The donors. The strength and conditioning coach, nutritionist, managers and also the security guards, Rob and Julio, for keeping us safe. Everyone pushed me to get better every day, to be the best version of myself. I am thankful for everything they did for me. I felt a lot of love from everyone.
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“I loved being in college and playing college basketball. The student section, the chants, the blackout games, the wins and losses. All of it.”
Bailey was named to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team and was third-team All-Big Ten after averaging 17.6 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game. He enters the draft after pairing with freshman guard Dylan Harper, the projected No. 2 pick, to lead a Scarlet Knights team that didn’t have much talent beyond the star duo and finished 15-17.
“I did good,” Bailey said. “I could have done way better, but I matured this season. The game slowed down for me. My IQ got higher. I got faster and way stronger. My ballhandling and shooting tightened up. Rutgers had me guarding everyone from point guards to power forwards. I learned a lot.”
At 6-foot-10, Bailey boasts exceptional shotmaking prowess. He hit 47 3-pointers in 30 games and erupted three times for 30-plus points in Big Ten play. He is one of the youngest prospects in this draft, not turning 19 until August, and brings insatiable aggressiveness and high-level intensity defensively to complement his outstanding scoring instincts.
“I’m nowhere close to reaching my potential,” Bailey said. “I’m still young, still learning, but I’m working every day. My playmaking is improving. NBA teams will get an energetic player ready to talk, lead and put people in the right positions. I can take a good team to a better level.”
Bailey is currently in Atlanta, preparing for the predraft process. He said he watches NBA games nightly and studies Kevin Durant, Jayson Tatum and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander closely.
The NBA draft combine will be held May 11-18 in Chicago, and the draft will be June 25-26 in New York.
Jonathan Givony is an NBA draft expert and the founder and co-owner of DraftExpress.com, a private scouting and analytics service used by NBA, NCAA and international teams.
