Rutgers Scarlet Knights guard Airious ‘Ace’ Bailey is all focused on the 2025 NBA Draft ever since he made his mark in the 2024-25 college basketball season. With all the hype surrounding him entering college after a stellar high school hoops career, Bailey immediately formed a dynamic duo with Dylan Harper that gave them both individually-successful one-and-done stints with coach Steve Pikiell’s program.
Having said that, Bailey is bringing on the support and love from his close ones such as his friends, family and fans in the hopes of hearing his name called on June 25 to 26 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Among his support system, his girlfriend in Mariyah is reportedly attending the draft for Bailey as she is also hoping that he gets drafted into the NBA.
According to an article by NJ.com on Tuesday, June 24, Bailey’s journey to being one of the top-level prospects for the 2025 NBA Draft class was made into retrospect. In one part, there was a discussion regarding how thankful the Chattanooga, Tennessee-born player is to his teammates and coaches for his lone year of collegiate hoops, as well as to a couple of security guards namely, Rob Wilson and Julio Hernandez.
It is then said that he reserved a seat on his draft table for his girlfriend, who reportedly goes by the nickname, “Piggy”, outside of her actual name. This means that fans and supporters can anticipate that Bailey’s special someone will be there right with him to hear which team will select him in the draft as well as presumably share a moment together afterwards with the Rutgers star’s family and other close ones.
Currently, per ESPN, Bailey is projected to be the No. 3 overall pick in the first round of the draft to coach Nick Nurse’s Philadelphia 76ers. The 76ers snagged the selection in this year’s draft lottery, as they have shown interest in Bailey and his skills as a two-way athletic wing.
Whatever the case is, Bailey will surely make an immediate impact in any team he goes to, as seen in his impactful one year at Rutgers. In the 2024-25 campaign, Bailey led the team in averages of rebounds and blocks with 7.2 and 1.3, respectively, to go along with 17.6 points, 1.3 assists and 1.0 steals a game.
Ace Bailey and Mariyah wore matching outfits during the holidays last year
— NCAA Noobita (@NcaaNoobita) December 26, 2024
Ace Bailey can be considered to be private about his personal life as he doesn’t really post about his girlfriend as much and his social media accounts are filled with his on-court life. But, as posted by @NcaaNoobita on X, Bailey uploaded photos of him and his girlfriend, Mariyah, on his Instagram story when they donned matching outfits for the holiday’s last year.
Given this, there could be a possibility for them to match in their fits somehow on draft night itself.
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