Donovan Dent (born December 2, 2003) is an American college basketball point guard for the UCLA Bruins of the Big Ten Conference. He previously played for the New Mexico Lobos, earning conference player of the year honors in the Mountain West in 2025.
Dent was born in Riverside, California, and attended Centennial High School in Corona. As a senior, he averaged 16.2 points and 6.6 assists per game, leading Centennial to a 33âÂÂ1 record and a state championship. As a result, he was named California Mr. Basketball and the John R. Wooden High School Player of the Year. A four-star recruit, he committed to play college basketball at the University of New Mexico.
After playing a role as a reserve during his freshman year, Dent had a breakout season as a sophomore. Against Colorado State, Dent hit the game-winning layup to defeat the Rams, 68âÂÂ66. He finished his sophomore campaign averaging 14.1 points and 5.4 assists per game, while being named to the second-team All-Mountain West.
During his junior season in 2024âÂÂ25, Dent emerged as the Mountain West Conference's leading scorer. Against VCU, he scored a career-high 40 points leading the Lobos to a 78âÂÂ71 victory. After standout performances against Fresno State and UNLV, Dent was named the Mountain West Player of the Week for the third time of the season. He finished the season averaging 20.5 points and 6.4 assists per game and was named the Mountain West Player of the Year. He also received honorable mention from both the Associated Press and United States Basketball Writers Association for their All-America teams.
After the season, Dent entered the transfer portal. On March 28, 2025, he announced his decision to transfer to the University of California, Los Angeles, to play for the Bruins. He struggled early in the 2025âÂÂ26 season while dealing with a string of injuries and the pressure of returning home to the Los Angeles area amid high expectations. On January 20, 2026, Dent had 23 points and 13 assists in a 69âÂÂ67 upset win over No. 4 Purdue. His play improved after a February 17 loss to Michigan State. On February 21 against Illinois, he took the inbound pass with 4.9 seconds remaining in the game and drove the length of the court to make the game-winning layup at the buzzer for a 95âÂÂ94 overtime win over the No. 10 Illini. He finished the game with 14 points and 15 assists and no turnovers. In the following game against USC, he scored a season-high 30 points and added eight assists with no turnovers in an 81âÂÂ62 win over their crosstown rivals. Dent received honorable mention for the All-Big Ten team. In UCLA's opener in the Big Ten tournament, he had 12 points, 10 rebounds, and 12 assists for his first career triple-double in a 72âÂÂ59 win over Rutgers. It was the first triple-double in the tournament's history. In the following game, he had 23 points, 12 assists, six rebounds, and four steals in an 88âÂÂ84 quarterfinals win over No. 8âÂÂranked and third-seeded Michigan State. He was limited to two points in 10 minutes in the semifinals against Purdue after suffering a mild calf strain. Already playing without their leading scorer, Tyler Bilodeau, who left the quarterfinals with a minor knee strain, the Bruins lost to the Boilermakers 73âÂÂ66. Dent returned in the Bruins' opener in the 2026 NCAA tournament, when he had a career-high six steals along with 10 points, five assists and no turnovers to help No. 7âÂÂseed UCLA win 75âÂÂ71 over No. 10âÂÂseed UCF.
|- | style="text-align:left;"| 2022âÂÂ23 | style="text-align:left;"| New Mexico | 34 || 2 || 18.5 || .507 || .211 || .685 || 2.0 || 2.3 || .9 || .7 || 5.6 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2023âÂÂ24 | style="text-align:left;"| New Mexico | 35 || 35 || 31.3 || .520 || .375 || .682 || 2.5 || 5.4 || 1.5 || .7 || 14.1 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2024âÂÂ25 | style="text-align:left;"| New Mexico | 35 || 35 || 35.3 || .490 || .409 || .784 || 2.3 || 6.4 || 1.4 || .9 || 20.4