All these years later, Mick Cronin’s favorite coach is still clueing him in.
Wondering why his 83-year-old father, Hep, would choose to fly to Los Angeles for UCLA’s Tuesday game against Minnesota that’s not exactly billed as a showdown, Mick received a sarcastic earful.
“He goes, ‘Well, you’re a real genius, you know if you win what it is?’ ” Mick said Monday. “And I was like, ‘Dad, no.’ I did not know. So he put that on me.”
It would be a victory worth celebrating, No. 500 overall. Cronin’s players are fully aware of what’s at stake inside Pauley Pavilion when the Bruins (19-7 overall, 10-5 Big Ten) face the Golden Gophers (13-12, 5-9) seeking a nice big round number for their coach, not to mention a ninth win in their last 10 games.
“Oh yeah, we gonna get 500 for him, for sure,” forward Eric Dailey Jr. said. “You know, definitely a great milestone in his career and just lucky that we’ll be the team to do it for him.”
Having compiled a 499-231 record in 22 seasons, Cronin, 53, would become the youngest active Division I college basketball coach with 500 victories should his team prevail. Cronin likes to say he’s chasing banners, not wins.
He’s come a long way from victory No. 1 at Murray State, even if the Racers’ 92-68 victory over Wagner on Nov. 22, 2003, did include more than a few Cronin staples. His team forced 25 turnovers that day, notched 47 deflections and pulled away with a 24-0 run in the second half after pressuring Wagner into submission.
Cronin acknowledged never having imagined it would be the first step on a path that would lead him to a basketball fantasyland such as Westwood.
“I think when you’re young, you’re just thinking, can I get a job and make enough money before I get fired, you know?” he said. “At least, that’s how I was.”
Mick Cronin watches practice during his time as coach at Murray State in March 2004.
(Jay LaPrete / Associated Press)
He’s never lost a job, parlaying two NCAA tournament appearances at Murray State into a big promotion at Cincinnati, his alma mater. After taking the Bearcats to nine consecutive NCAA tournaments, UCLA called.
Cronin has gone 134-60 in six seasons with the Bruins, guiding them to the 2021 Final Four and two additional appearances in the NCAA tournament’s Sweet 16.
Cronin told The Times last season that he wanted UCLA to be his last job. But some might have worried given what he didn’t say last week when asked about Indiana’s impending coaching vacancy once Mike Woodson retires at the end of the season.
Rather than reiterate that he’s not leaving UCLA or disarm the question with his mantra that he loves living in L.A. because he “turns left on Sunset” Boulevard, Cronin talked about the unforgiving nature of fans.
“I would say some people might be happy because some people are probably on [message] boards wanting me fired,” Cronin said with a laugh when asked what he would tell UCLA fans concerned about seeing him listed as a candidate for the Indiana job on message boards.
“And I’m being dead serious. Your popularity rating when you’re a coach, you have to check your ego — they booed [Arkansas coach] John Calipari at Kentucky, OK? You know what he did there? … So I’m well aware that I might be on a board for a job, but my board, somebody might want me to lose my job and I know I’m laughing, but I’m being serious, man. We get our ass beat Tuesday [against Minnesota], go ahead and check our boards.”
Cronin went on to discuss what it takes to sustain a great program, including support matching expectations. He listed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Mike Warren as among those providing necessary alumni support. He praised the efforts of the team’s collective, Men of Westwood, for raising the funds needed to secure a talented roster.
What about support from UCLA’s athletic administration? Cronin indicated on Monday that he was happy with that as well based on his relationship with athletic director Martin Jarmond. Cronin said Jarmond helped provide the resources to hire Dave Andrews, the team’s new director of basketball performance, and regularly discussed ways to boost attendance at Pauley Pavilion, where the team is averaging just 6,448 fans this season.
“Martin and I talk about that stuff all the time — anything that I feel I want to talk about or he wants to talk about,” Cronin said, “so we have a constant, open dialogue.”
Cronin, who has three more years left on the contract extension that runs through the end of the 2027-28 season, said he’s learned to appreciate the positives in any situation from longtime friend Mike Brey, the former Notre Dame coach.
“I don’t care where you’re at, it’s never always going to be perfectly done the way you want it,” Cronin said, “and I think some coaches make a mistake thinking that and are never happy and then you’re not liked on your campus because you’re always complaining. … I’m not somebody that sits around like, ‘We don’t have this’ or ‘Something’s [wrong].’ I think it’s fool’s gold to think that it’s going to be Camelot.
“There’s a lot of positives here — a lot of positives.”
Coming of age
Cronin said freshman guard Trent Perry, who made a variety of contributions in 15 minutes off the bench during the team’s victory over Indiana, was on the verge of a bigger role based on his off-the-ball defense and basketball intelligence.
“Getting him to be a factor for us because he’s got it in him,” Cronin said, “is something that could really, really help us in March.”