Jonathan Anh Juzang (; born March 17, 2001) is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player for the

Utah Jazz The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference. Since the 1991–92 season, the ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA). He began his

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

career playing one season with the

Kentucky Wildcats The Kentucky Wildcats are the men's and women's intercollegiate athletic squads of the University of Kentucky (UK), a founding member of the Southeastern Conference. The Kentucky Wildcats is the student body of the University of Kentucky. 30, ...

before transferring and spending two seasons with the

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Big Ten Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF ...

. A two-time all-conference selection in the

Pac-12 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level for all sports, and its football teams compete in the Football Bowl ...

, Juzang earned third-team

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

honors as a junior in 2022. As a sophomore, he was named to the All-Tournament Team of the 2021 NCAA tournament, as the Bruins advanced to the

Final Four In sports, the final four is the last four teams remaining in a playoffs, playoff tournament. Usually the final four compete in the two games of a single-elimination tournament's semi-final (penultimate) round. Of these teams, the two who win in ...

Early life

Juzang was born in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. His father, Maxie, is Creole, and his mother, Hanh, is

Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overseas Vietnamese, Vietnamese people living outside Vietna ...

. After repeating the eighth grade, Juzang played high school basketball for

Harvard-Westlake School Harvard-Westlake School is an independent, co-educational university preparatory day school in Los Angeles, California, with about 1,600 students in grades seven through twelve. The school has two campuses: the middle school campus in Holmby ...

in Los Angeles. In his freshman season, he averaged 16.2 points, 7.5

rebounds 'Rebound' is a term used in sports to describe the ball (or puck or other object of play) becoming available for possession by either opponent after an attempt to put the ball or puck into the goal has been unsuccessful. Rebounds are generally ...

, and two assists per game and was teammates with

Cassius Stanley Cassius Jerome Stanley (born August 18, 1999) is an American professional basketball player for ESSM Le Portel of the LNB Pro A. He played college basketball for the Duke Blue Devils. High school career Stanley first attended Harvard-Westlake Sc ...

. Harvard-Westlake won the

CIF Southern Section The California Interscholastic Federation-Southern Section (CIF-SS) is the governing body for high school athletics in most of Southern California and is the largest of the ten sections that comprise the California Interscholastic Federation (CI ...

(CIF-SS) Division 1A championship after Juzang recorded 21 points, 11 rebounds and four assists in the final. As a sophomore, he averaged 22.8 points, 9.5 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game, leading his team to a 22–6 record. In his junior season, Juzang averaged 23 points, 8.5 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game and was named the

most valuable player In team sports, a most valuable player (MVP) award is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particular competition, or ...

of the

Mission League The Mission League is a high school athletic league that is part of the CIF Southern Section. Member schools *Bishop Alemany High School (Mission Hills) * Chaminade College Preparatory (West Hills) *Crespi Carmelite High School (Encino) *Harvard ...

. He helped lead Harvard-Westlake to their first league title since 2011 after scoring 25 points in the championship game against rival Loyola. After the season, Juzang

reclassified ''Reclassified'' is the reissue of Australian rapper Iggy Azalea's debut studio album, '' The New Classic'' (2014). It was released internationally on 21 November 2014 by Virgin EMI Records, and in the United States on 24 November 2014 by Gran ...

from the 2020 class to the 2019 class, allowing him to play collegiately in the following season. He was a four-star recruit and one of the top

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three, is one of the five Basketball position, positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically shorter, quicker, and leaner than Power forward (basketball), power forwards and Cent ...

s in his class. On May 10, 2019, he committed to play college basketball for

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

over

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

. He had also been interested in

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

, but their coach,

Steve Alford Stephen Todd Alford (born November 23, 1964) is an American men's college basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach for the Nevada Wolf Pack men's basketball, Nevada Wolf Pack of the Mountain West Conference (MWC). ...

, was fired, and he did not have time to develop a relationship with their new coach, Mick Cronin, before choosing the Wildcats.

College career

Kentucky (2019–2020)

As a freshman at the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical ...

, Juzang played behind Tyrese Maxey and Immanuel Quickley and was mostly restricted to catch-and-shoot opportunities in limited playing time. His defense was considered a weakness, and he did not shoot well enough to compel

Wildcats The wildcat is a species complex comprising two small wild cat species: the European wildcat (''Felis silvestris'') and the African wildcat (''F. lybica''). The European wildcat inhabits forests in Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus, while th ...

coach

John Calipari John Vincent Calipari (; born February 10, 1959) is an American basketball coach who is the head coach at the Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball, University of Arkansas. He has been named Naismith College Coach of the Year three times (1996, 2 ...

to play him more. On February 8, 2020, Juzang scored a season-high 13 points with three three-pointers in a 77–64 win over

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

. He averaged 2.9 points, shooting 37.7 percent from the field, in 12.4 minutes per game for the Wildcats.

UCLA (2020–2022)

Sophomore season (2020–2021)

After the season, Juzang announced that he was transferring from Kentucky. He had been lonely without his family, and the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

drove his desire to return home. Juzang decided to transfer to UCLA and play under Cronin, and he was granted a waiver to play immediately instead of the usual requirement to sit out a season. Juzang missed the first four games of the 2020–21 season with a stress reaction in his right foot. In his first game, he scored 10 points off the bench in a win over

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

. He moved into the starting lineup in the following game against Marquette. On January 14, 2021, Juzang scored a then-career-high 17 points, leading the Bruins in scoring in a 91–61 blowout win over

Washington State Washington, officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is often referred to as Washington State to distinguish it from the national capital, both named after George Washington ...

. On January 24, against

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

, he scored 27 in a 73–72 loss in overtime, the Bruins' first conference defeat of the season. The game included a stretch where Juzang scored 21 straight points for the team, making eight consecutive shots to end the first half and begin the second. Against

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

, he scored a career-high 32 points in a 64–61 win. He was the first Bruin to score at least half of his team's points in a game since

Reggie Miller Reginald Wayne Miller (born August 24, 1965) is an American former professional basketball player who List of NBA players who have spent their entire career with one franchise, played his entire 18-year career in the National Basketball Assoc ...

35 years earlier. The team's leading scorer, Juzang was a second-team All-Pac-12 selection. In the 2021 NCAA tournament, Juzang joined Miller and

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Kareem Abdul-Jabbar ( ; born Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor Jr. , April 16, 1947) is an American former basketball player. He played professionally for 20 seasons for the Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Associatio ...

, known in college as Lew Alcindor, to become the third player in UCLA history to score at least 20 points in their first two NCAA tournament games. He scored 28 points in a 51–49 win over No. 1 seed

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

, as UCLA advanced to their first

since

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

. Eighteen of his points came in the first half, which included a run where he scored 12 consecutive for the Bruins. He became the first player to score at least half of his team's points in a regional finals win since

Oscar Robertson Oscar Palmer Robertson (born November 24, 1938), nicknamed "the Big O", is an American former professional basketball player who played for the Cincinnati Royals and Milwaukee Bucks in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Robertson played ...

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

. He was named the most outstanding player of the tournament's East Region. Juzang scored 29 points in the national semifinal against 1-seed

Gonzaga Gonzaga may refer to: Places *Gonzaga, Lombardy, commune in the province of Mantua, Italy *Gonzaga, Cagayan, municipality in the Philippines *Gonzaga, Minas Gerais, town in Brazil *Forte Gonzaga, fort in Messina, Sicily Surname *House of Gonza ...

, including a basket to tie the game with 3.3 seconds remaining in overtime, but the Bulldogs'

Jalen Suggs Jalen Rashon Suggs (born June 3, 2001) is an American player for the Orlando Magic of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Gonzaga Bulldogs. He was selected by the Magic with the fifth overall pick in th ...

made a

buzzer beater In timed sports, a buzzer beater is a successful shot made as the clock expires at the end of a period or at the end of the game, leaving zero seconds remaining. A buzzer sounds whenever a game clock expires, hence the name "buzzer beater." In b ...

to win 93–90 over the Bruins. Juzang averaged 22.8 points in six games in the tournament, and was named to the 2021 All-Tournament Team. He scored 137 total points, the second most by a UCLA player in NCAA tournament history behind

Gail Goodrich Gail Charles Goodrich Jr. (born April 23, 1943) is an American former professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is best known for scoring a then record 42 points for UCLA in the 1965 NCAA championship game vs ...

's 140 points in

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The First Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lynd ...

. He scored 23 or more points four times in the tournament for a total of eight games with at least 20 during the season.

Junior season (2021–2022)

During the offseason, Juzang declared for the

NBA draft The NBA draft is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) annual event, dating back to 1947 BAA draft, 1947, in which the teams in the league can Draft (sports), draft players who declare for the draft and that are Eligibility for the NBA dr ...

while maintaining his college eligibility. After making it into the first round of some

mock draft Mock draft is a term used by sports websites and magazines in reference to a simulation of a sports league draft (sports), draft or fantasy sports league's draft. ESPN has run mock drafts on the front page of its website, allowing any visitor to ...

s but also struggling in a few draft combine games, he decided to return to UCLA and contend for a national championship in 2021–22. Hoping to boost his draft stock, Juzang instead fought injuries, missing one game due to a sore hip from a scooter accident and two others with a sprained right ankle. He was also sidelined for two games after testing positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

, and failed to significantly improve on defense during the season. Though he was the focus of opponents' defensive game plans, Juzang largely duplicated his statistics from a year before and remained as UCLA's leading scorer, helping lead the team to a No. 4 seed in the 2022 NCAA tournament. He was named a third-team

by the

National Association of Basketball Coaches The National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, is an American organization of men's college basketball coaches. It was founded in 1927 by Phog Allen, the men's basketball head coach for the Univ ...

, and was voted to the All-Pac-12 first team. He was also listed on the final national ballot for the

John R. Wooden Award The John R. Wooden Award is an award given annually to the most outstanding men's and women's college basketball players. The Wooden Award program consists of the men's and women's player of the year awards, the Legends of Coaching Award, and rec ...

, and was a finalist for the

Jerry West Award The Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Award is an annual basketball award given by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame to the top men's collegiate shooting guard. The award is named after former Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard, ...

, given to the top

shooting guard The shooting guard (SG), also known as the two, two guard or off guard,Shooting guards are 6'3"–6'7"BBC Sports academy URL last accessed 2006-09-09. is one of the five traditional basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game ...

in the nation. After failing to reach double figures in scoring in four out of six games, Juzang had his best game since his ankle injury with 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting along with eight rebounds in a 72–56 win over Saint Mary's in the second round of the NCAA tournament. He scored 14 again in the Bruins' season-ending 73–66 loss to

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

in the Sweet Sixteen, but needed 13 shots and was only 2-of-8 shooting in the second half. After the season, he left UCLA to enter the NBA draft.

Professional career

Utah Jazz (2022–present)

Juzang went undrafted in the

2022 NBA draft The 2022 NBA draft (branded as the 2022 NBA Draft presented by State Farm for sponsorship reasons), the 76th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual NBA draft, draft, was held on June 23, 2022, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New ...

. He played for the

in the

2022 NBA Summer League The 2022 NBA Summer League, also branded as the NBA 2K23 Summer League 2022, was an off-season competition held by the National Basketball Association (NBA) primarily at the Thomas and Mack Center and Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas, Nevada on the cam ...

, although his debut was delayed after he suffered a

concussion A concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a head injury that temporarily affects brain functioning. Symptoms may include headache, dizziness, difficulty with thinking and concentration, sleep disturbances, a brief ...

in a car crash days after he arrived in Utah. After the summer league, he signed a

two-way contract A two-way contract is a professional sports contract that stipulates that an athlete's salary is dependent upon the league in which the athlete is assigned to play. This is opposed to a one-way contract that would pay the same salary regardless o ...

with the Jazz. During the season, he missed over a month with a serious wrist sprain. He made his NBA debut on February 28, 2023 in a 102–94 loss to the

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

, scoring three points. On July 19, 2023, Juzang signed another two-way contract with the Jazz. In a March 15, 2024 game against the

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Easte ...

, Juzang scored a then-career-high 19 points on 7-for-11 shooting in 25 minutes off of the bench. Juzang scored a new career high of 27 points against the Golden State Warriors in a regular season game on April 7, 2024. On August 13, he signed a four-year contract with the Jazz.

Career statistics

NBA

, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

, 18 , , 0 , , 12.9 , , .337 , , .238 , , .500 , , 2.2 , , .4 , , .2 , , .2 , , 4.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 20 , , 5 , , 18.6 , , .464 , , .416 , , .714 , , 1.8 , , 1.2 , , .2 , , .1 , , 7.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 64 , , 18 , , 19.8 , , .429 , , .376 , , .849 , , 2.9 , , 1.1 , , .6 , , .1 , , 8.9 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 102 , , 23 , , 18.4 , , .421 , , .363 , , .803 , , 2.5 , , 1.0 , , .5 , , .1 , , 7.9

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20 , style="text-align:left;",

, 28 , , 2 , , 12.3 , , .377 , , .326 , , .833 , , 1.9 , , .3 , , .2 , , .1 , , 2.9 , - , style="text-align:left;",

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, style="text-align:left;",

, 27 , , 26 , , 32.3 , , .441 , , .353 , , .877 , , 4.1 , , 1.6 , , .8 , , .3 , , 16.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2021–22 , style="text-align:left;",

, 30 , , 29 , , 31.8 , , .432 , , .360 , , .835 , , 4.7 , , 1.8 , , .7 , , .1 , , 15.6 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan=2, Career , 85 , , 57 , , 25.5 , , .431 , , .352 , , .853 , , 3.6 , , 1.2 , , .6 , , , .2 , , 11.6 Source:

Personal life

Juzang's older brother, Christian, played college basketball as a

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the Basketball positions, five positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position and is usually the shortest player ...

for

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

, and played in the

Vietnam Basketball Association The Vietnam Basketball Association, abbreviated as VBA, is a Vietnamese national professional basketball league founded in 2016. It runs an annual tournament, the Vietnam Pro Basketball League (). History The formation of the VBA was announced ...

with the

Saigon Heat The Saigon Heat is a Vietnamese professional basketball team based in Ho Chi Minh City. Since the 2014 season, the Heat's home games are played at the CIS Arena on the campus of the Canadian International School in District 7. This is the fi ...

. He has a younger sister, Lauren.

References

External links

UCLA Bruins bioKentucky Wildcats bioUSA Basketball bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Juzang, Johnny 2001 births Living people 21st-century American sportsmen All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball players American sportspeople of Vietnamese descent Basketball players from Los Angeles Harvard-Westlake School alumni Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball players Salt Lake City Stars players Shooting guards UCLA Bruins men's basketball players Undrafted NBA players Utah Jazz players