Son of WVU Women's Hoops Alum Selected in Top 5 of 2025 NBA Draft

Technically, a piece of the Mountaineer family was selected on night one of the draft, right?

Jun 25, 2025; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Ace Bailey stands with NBA commissioner Adam Silver after being selected as the fifth pick by the Utah Jazz in the first round of the 2025 NBA Draft at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

After weeks of speculation, former Rutgers star Ace Bailey was selected with the fifth overall pick by the Utah Jazz in the 2025 NBA draft on Thursday night. Bailey is the son of former West Virginia women's basketball center Ramika McGee, who played for the Mountaineers in the early 2000s.

For the better part of the last year, many expected Bailey to be a lock to be selected inside the top three with a chance of going second overall behind Duke's Cooper Flagg. The pre-draft process didn't necessarily go that great, as he declined all pre-draft visits, even to the team that ultimately selected him. This was advice that his representation gave him, and it seemed to have rubbed many in the NBA the wrong way.

In a few years, some teams who passed on him may regret that decision. He has an innate ability to score the ball, averaging 17.6 points in his lone season at Rutgers, shooting 46% from the field and 34% from three-point land. Although he needs to become a better shot creator and defender, there's a pretty strong chance that he'll slide right into the starting lineup in Utah, a team that won just 17 games last season.

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