UCLA honors late Jalen Hill, runs '24 Out' play to open game

LOS ANGELES -- UCLAcoach Mick Cronin opened Saturday's 87-64 win overDenverby calling a lob play named "24 Out"in honor of former player Jalen Hill.

Hill, who died in September at age 22, wore the No. 24 when he played parts of three seasons at UCLA before retiring after the 2020-21 season.

The Bruins honored Hill in a pregame ceremony Saturday, with his family standing at midcourt next to Hill's No. 24 jersey and a wreath. Players and coaches surrounded and embraced Hill's mother, father and other family members in attendance. Some of the players wiped tears from their eyes before the start of the game.

The "24 Out" lob play, which UCLA couldn't execute at the start of the game because of Denver's zone defense, had rarely been used in previous games, according to players.

The Bruins, who ran the play multiple times against Denver, will all attend a memorial Sunday for Hill, a 6-foot-10 forward who averaged 6.5 PPG and 5.9 RPG in three years with the team.

In September, Hill's family announced his death after he'd gone missing in Costa Rica. No further details were provided.

"I think the pregame ceremony was unfortunate that we [had to have it]," Cronin said. "It's still hard for all of us to process. Really, really hard. But we're all going to the celebration of life for him [Sunday] as a team. That will probably be the first time it'll be even more tangible and real just because of the way everything has happened."

The No. 24 was a theme throughout the team's win over Denver. After a slow start, the Bruins prevailed after forcing 24 turnovers. Jaylen Clark, who attended high school with Hill for a year and knew him well, scored 24 points, leading all scorers in the matchup. He said the emotions of the pregame ceremony were challenging to process.

Between the time he spent with Hill in high school and the relationship they developed during the 2019-20 season that was impacted by COVID-19, Clark said his memories of Hill are vivid.

"Just seeing his face from me remembering being 13, 14 years old, running around with him every day to when we were in COVID [times] and me, him and [Tyger Campbell] are sitting in the same corner where our lockers are because we got moved outside and we were talking so much that our old trainer Wes Long is over there like, 'Y'all need to be quiet,'" Clark said after the game. "It puts the whole thing of life into perspective. You've got to make the most out of your day. Tomorrow isn't promised."

Clark said the team immediately recognized what Cronin was doing when he came out and called "24 Out" as the first play of the game on Saturday.

"We paid attention," he said. "We were well aware [of Cronin's gesture]."

Jaime Jaquez Jr. played with Hill for two of his three years on the team and developed a bond with him, too. They were neighbors on campus. After Hill left the program, Jaquez called him to get the green light to switch from No. 4 to No. 24.

"We had a lot of great conversations over our time together," said Jaquez, who scored 18 points against Denver. "We wanted to run '24 Out' for him and I wear No. 24. It was always my number, but once he left, I called him to make sure everything was good. I didn't want to just take it without letting him know. He was very welcoming of that and wanted me to have it and was always so positive toward what we were doing as a team. He was always so supportive, and we miss him dearly."