In a surprise move, UCLA Bruins guard Donovan Dent has just announced that he is retiring from playing basketball after recently wrapping up his college hoops career. On Sunday, May 24, Dent announced through the Albuquerque Journal that he will not be pursuing a career in professional basketball.
He will instead return to his home in New Mexico to become a personal trainer for the youth. Dent is originally from Riverside, California, but played three of his four years in college with the New Mexico Lobos.
There, Dent fell in love with the culture and community, and even when he eventually transferred and played his senior season with the Bruins, he truly values his time at New Mexico. Now, he is aiming to help the younger generations in Albuquerque, New Mexico, reach the level of the sport he reached and beyond.
“Former New Mexico and UCLA PG Donovan Dent is retiring from the game of basketball.. 💔 ‘Dent’s senior year with the Bruins took a lot out of him.’ He will not pursue a professional career and return to New Mexico to start training youth basketball players. At New Mexico, he was the 2024-25 Mountain West Player of the Year after averaging 20.4 PPG as a junior before transferring to UCLA. Wishing luck on the next chapter! @donovandent2,” @cbbcontent on Instagram captioned with an emoji.
Dent also shared that one reason he is returning to Albuquerque is due to his girlfriend, Katelyn Estrada, taking up medical school in the University of New Mexico. The 24-year-old made a bet with her that had the Lobos football team win against the Bruins in the 2025 season, he’d have to move back to New Mexico. The Lobos did end up beating UCLA by 25 points, 35-10, causing Dent to uphold his end of the deal.
Donovan Dent wants to give back to the Albuquerque community for what they gave him
Furthermore, in the report on the Albuquerque Journal, Donovan Dent confirmed that he is stepping away from basketball because all he wants to do now is give back to the community in New Mexico. Dent feels like the Lobos program is what gave him the opportunity to play the sport at a high level, and will now help young players in the community develop through individual and group sessions.
“I’m done with pro basketball. That’s why I came back here. I want to give back to the youth and I want to start training. I want to start working in individual training, group sessions, things like that and I want to get started on that out here (in Albuquerque), young kids, older kids, just help them with their game and I wanted to start it here because Albuquerque gave me so much,” Dent was quoted as saying.
“I feel like this is the perfect place for me to start training the youth and give back to them,” he continued.
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