Rutgers' freshman Ace Bailey drops 3-word reaction for Southern University's Michael Jacobs' performance

Rutgers freshman Ace Bailey hyped Southern University men's basketball star, Michael Jacobs for the junior guard's outstanding performance as the Jaguars defeated the Jackson State Tigers 91-89 on Tuesday. Bailey posted a short video of Jacobs bypassing the Tigers players to score, on his Instagram story on Thursday.

"Nahh heeeesss niceeee," Bailey captioned the post.

Ace Bailey hypes Mikey Jacobs on IG. Image via @acebailey

Jacobs scored 17, including three free throws to rally the Jaguars to an overtime victory. Southern is now 14-8 on the season and 9-0 in Southwestern Athletic Conference play. The Jaguars will now focus on the game against Alabama A&M on Saturday in Huntsville.

Ace Bailey named in Julius Erving Award top 10 small forward watchlist

Ace Bailey has been phenomenal for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights and his efforts are getting some recognition. The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame named him to the Top 10 candidates for the 2025 Julius Erving Award.

Averaging 20.1 points, 7.9 rebounds and 1.8 assists on 47.1% shooting, the freshman guard is on the right track to breaking the Rutgers all-time freshman season scoring record.

"Earlier this season Bailey matched RUs' freshman scoring record and Big Ten record earlier this season with 39 points at Indiana (most in a regulation game) and his 16 field goals were the most ever by a RU player in a Big Ten game and most by a RU freshman. His 37 points against Northwestern and 30 points at Penn State marked some of his best scoring outputs of the season. Bailey was named a two-time Big Ten Freshman of the Week and Met Writers Player of the Week for his performances this season," a statement from Rutgers website said.

The Julius Erving Award is an annual award that was named after the Class of 1993 Hall of Famer and 16-year professional basketball player. Celebrating its 11th year, the award recognizes the top small forwards in Division I men's college basketball.

Fan voting will commence on Friday on hoophallawards.com. It will count as one committee vote during the final selection process. The selection committee comprises top men's and women's college basketball personnel, including media members, head coaches, sports information directors and Hall of Famers.

Meanwhile, Bailey's teammate and fellow freshman star, Dylan Harper, was named as one of the top 10 candidates for the Bob Cousy Award for the best point guard. Sidelined due to an ankle injury, Harper is the only freshman that made the list.