Jaime Jaquez Jr. is going back to the Final Four, a family bucket-list goal that sister Gabriela Jaquez now also has made a reality.
More precisely, Jaime Jaquez is going to the women’s Final Four.
Fortunately, for the Miami Heat guard, this year’s women’s Final Four not only is in Tampa, but with the national semifinals on Friday and the championship game on Sunday, in each case on a Heat day off amid a Kaseya Center homestand.
Having come up short in his 2021 trip to the men’s Final Four during his four seasons with the Bruins, the Heat guard said he was riveted by Sunday’s regional championship game in Spokane, Wash., a 72-65 UCLA victory over LSU that was sealed by a Gabriela Jaquez 3-pointer as part of her team-leading 18-point, eight rebound performance.
“Man, I jumped up. That was such a big shot,” Jaquez said of watching from Washington, with the Heat facing the Washington Wizards on Monday night at Capital One Arena. “That’s something that she’s been working so hard on. It’s something that I’ve seen her work on. So just to see it pay off in a moment like that, it was super special.
“I’m just super proud of her and that entire team. They’ve been together there for a while, their core group of girls and it’s their time. Their time is now, so I’m really happy to see them succeed.”
An emotional long-distance conversation followed.
“I called her last night and told her to finish the job and do what I never did and put a banner up there,” her brother said Monday. “I talked to some of the rest of the girls, trying to figure out my plans and see if I can get up there on Friday. That’s kind of the most stressful part.”
Confident he will be there.
“Yeah, I know we have an off day on that Friday and it’s in Tampa,” he said, with the Heat hosting the Memphis Grizzlies on Thursday night and the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday, with the team scheduled to be off Friday. “So it’s just logistics on how to get up there. Do I want to take a quick flight and maybe drive back, or just drive the whole thing?
“But that’s something that’s totally worth it. Sister in a Final Four, it doesn’t happen every day. Once in a lifetime. I was there, so it’s only right that I go and support her as well.”
