When UCLA coach Mick Cronin has something to say, he's going to say it. The Bruins boss has never minced his words and he's never been afraid to call it how he sees it. The question is whether or not his frank comments and player callouts following the 94-76 drubbing at home by No. 24 Michigan will hurt him in his own locker room or on the recruiting trail.
What isn't questioned, is that he could have easily avoided some self-inflicted wounds.
Tuesday night against the Wolverines, UCLA fell into a big first-half hole and then dug its way out to retake a lead before ultimately getting blown out. After the home loss, Cronin kept it real once again in his postgame press conference. He unleashed the harshest critique of his own team yet during his six-year tenure in Westwood.
If you haven't heard the soundbites or read the quotes, Cronin came out firing from the jump. The first question In the press conference was tepid and reasonable --- whether it was Michigan's unique size and skill or defensive breakdowns that were the main reason the Bruins surrendered a season-high 94 points.
"I'd say a combination to be fair to your question. Obviously, they shot the ball well. But we're soft. We're too soft to play hard enough," Cronin said. "Even in the crucials, you can't get an offensive rebound. It's like a five-point game and Kobe Johnson just has a guy take the ball from him. Same thing with Sebastian Mack. Okay, we finally do get a stop, can't get a defensive rebound. They didn't have a million of them because they didn't miss that many shots. But there were a few in particular. Kobe, Sebastian. Huge, back-breaking. And you get inside position. You get inside position. So don't tell me you want to win. Don't tell me you want to win.
"To start the game, Tyler Bilodeau gave up 12 points. Two screens, he didn't say a word, threes, and then he got dunked on three times. So don't tell me you want to win. We're soft. Aside from — to be fair to you, obviously they have a unique skill set, the way they shoot the ball, but we're soft."
That was just the beginning of an epic rant in which Cronin lamented having to bring the most passion and pride on a daily basis. He pointed out that he's won almost 500 games, and said he was upset with everybody including his assistant coaches.
For the chef's kiss, he called his players delusional.
"The truth of it has been, it's really hard to coach people that are delusional," Cronin said. "The hungry dog gets the bone. We got guys that think they're way better than they are. They're nice kids. They're completely delusional about who they are and the team that's mind is on the right stuff and hungry to get a win in conference play is the team that is probably going to win. Right now, right now, if this wasn't the humble pie they needed then I don't know."
Cronin is who he is and he's not going to change his ways.
In the media, if your beat is UCLA, you love how open Cronin is and the content you can create because of it. For some, Cronin's public frankness is just old-school coaching and something his players need to hear. But there is an opinion that that type of ridicule should be kept behind the closed doors of a locker room. You can rest assured that the same message has also been communicated directly to the UCLA players, but in a more private fashion and likely in a much less PG manner.
Whichever side of the debate you fall on, you can probably agree that Cronin does appear to be at a bit of a crossroads this season. During his first three years at UCLA, he took the Bruins to a Final Four and a pair of Sweet Sixteens with rosters that were tough and mostly stable just as the transfer portal era began to take over college basketball.
Last year, the Bruins went heavy on international players to replenish Its roster and it didn't work. Cronin's run of 12 straight NCAA appearances came to an end.
For this season, NIL efforts were stepped up and the Bruins hit the transfer portal hard to reshape their lineup. Despite losing three of its last four, they are still in a decent spot at 11-4 overall and 2-2 in the Big Ten. How will the players react to Tuesday's presser and how might it be used against Cronin in recruiting are the real questions.
After all, the Bruins are trying hard to keep class of 2025 top-10 prospect and Southern California native Brayden Burries at home. Additionally, the class of 2026 (currently high school juniors) features multiple five-star prospects from SoCal.
There is zero doubt that recruiting rivals have made sure that UCLA targets and those around them have seen Cronin's comments from Tuesday night. They've likely reminded them that it wasn't the first time Cronin has ranted against and called out his players publicly.
Recruiting is hard enough as it is without added complications that Cronin might have caused on Tuesday night. It's dirty, it's nasty, it's not for the faint of heart. It wouldn't be a surprise if Cronin said he didn't want to recruit anybody who was troubled by the way he handled the Michigan press conference.
But when it comes to managing a locker room and replenishing talent, the last thing you want to do is be the person who is creating problems that could get in your way and that's exactly what happened on Tuesday night.
Will there be any lingering effects of Cronin's latest outburst? That answer is to be determined but there's no doubt that Cronin could have saved himself a lot of heartache and not gave opposing coaches fodder to use against him by simply taking a few deep breaths and said what he said In private.
