Gabriela Jaquez is proud to represent Latinos and Mexico
The last 72 hours have been crazy for Gabriela Jaquez. On Sunday, emotions ran high when, together with UCLAcarried the title of the women’s university championship of the NCAA. After the euphoria after defeating South Carolina resoundingly, came the bittersweet tears.
Jaquez says goodbye to UCLA as a player after finishing her fourth season with the university, and is now preparing to go to the WNBA as one of the few Mexicans in the history of the league to arrive in professional basketball in the United States.
In between, Gabriela has been attending to the media, including her appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live on Tuesday night with her bandmates. UCLA.
On Thursday, he will leave for New York for the Draft, where he will learn his destination to begin his rookie campaign in the WNBAa lightning transition after achieving glory and giving her university the first title in the history of the institution in women’s basketball.
Meanwhile, take the time to reflect on what has happened in the recent past, the present and a dizzying future that will arrive very soon.
“It’s an incredible feeling,” Gabriela said in an interview for AM850 Digital. “I am very proud, not only of myself, but also of my teammates. We set our goal to win the national championship this year, and that was the expectation, and we achieved it,” she continued.
In the duel against South Carolina, Jaquez excelled with 21 points and 10 rebounds, a mark that placed her as one of UCLA’s most valuable players not only in the championship game, but in the entire postseason tournament.
While Gabriela did her thing on the court, the entire Jaquez family watched her expectantly from the stands: Jaime Sr., her father, Jaime Jr., her older brother and Miami Heat star in the NBA, her younger brother Marcos, and her mother Angela, who had an outstanding career as a college player.
“My mom is one of my biggest fans,” Gabriela said. “And she cried at the farewell, just before going to the game, she gets very emotional. And I told her: ‘Mom, if I see you cry, I’m going to cry too,'” he continued.
“But she is very proud of me and my teammates. She loves the whole team,” she said of her mother.
Gabriela told AM850 in a previous interview that her mother tried to reach the WNBA in her debut season in 1997. Now, almost three decades later, her daughter will fulfill the family’s dream, and will also make her, along with Jaime, the first pair of Mexican siblings in the history of the NBA and WNBA to play concurrently.
In New York, Gabriela will wait to see which franchise chooses her. In the most recent mock drafts, the Mexican national team is profiled between positions eight and twelve, with teams such as Caitlin Clark’s Indiana Fever, among which they could select her for the 2026 season and beyond. As a letter of introduction, Gabriela described her style of play for the fans who will know her in her time as a professional after her collegiate success.
“I think I would describe my game as very versatile: I can rebound, score and defend,” he said. “Also, I’m a team player. So whatever the team does, I’m there to do it. And my ultimate goal is to win games,” he continued.
At UCLA, he won many games, and the university achieved its goal of becoming champions just one year after reaching the Final Four and staying one step away from glory. Along with players like Lauren Betts and Kiki Rice, Jaquez developed not only great chemistry as players, but as friendships.
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Jaquez would like to continue having her UCLA teammates like her
Jaquez shares her thoughts on her move from college basketball to the WNBA
Now, the three are at the door of the WNBA, where the trio may probably separate for the first time in years and have to face each other as opponents and not as teammates.
“You know, we’re enjoying every moment together,” she said. “We are still teammates, although we haven’t stopped being teammates yet. So it would definitely be interesting and strange to play against each other, especially with Kiki, since we have been playing together for four years,” she continued.
Although the Washington Mystics have three picks in the top fifteen, there is a possibility, however slim, that all three could be together as professionals in the WNBA as well.
Meanwhile, Jaquez knows that, no matter what happens, he carries the hope of a community of Mexican Americans in Southern California, specifically Camarillo, where he grew up, and of all of Mexico, a country to which he has dedicated himself as a national team since 2024.
“I am very proud to represent Camarillo, Mexico, the entire country; it really means a lot to me,” she said.
Next Monday, the champion at UCLA will face the next challenge, of being just one of the first Mexicans to reach the WNBA. Lou López, born in Guadalajara, but a player for the French national team, was selected in 2023 by the Dallas Wings. Gabriela, without a doubt, will become the first selected by Mexico to be in the league.
For her, it means an important milestone, taking into account that thanks to the visible position she has come to have at UCLA and in the Mexican national team, she is aware of the influence she has on future generations.
“I am very grateful to be able to inspire and influence young people, especially Latinos and, obviously, the Mexican people. That they see someone of Mexican descent and know that I achieved it, and that they can do it too, fills me with joy,” she concluded.
