PISCATAWAY, N.J. — On Wednesday, Rutgers men's basketball's freshman guard Ace Bailey declared for the 2025 NBA Draft.
 
"I want to thank everyone at Rutgers," Bailey told ESPN's Jonathan Givony. "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.
 
"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 was named to the All-Metropolitan First Team on Wednesday. He enters the draft after pairing with freshman guard Dylan Harper.
 
Bailey had one of the best individual seasons in Rutgers basketball history.

Bailey finished regular season play with 510 points. He moved past Rutgers legend Phil Sellers and stands third behind Harper and Rosario on the single-season freshmen scoring list. Bailey averaged 17.6 points (seventh in the conference), 7.2 rebounds and shot 45.8 percent from the field.
 
"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."
 
The NBA draft combine will be held May 11-18 in Chicago, and the draft will be June 25-26 in New York.