The Bruins are set to return to follow Thursday, and lots has modified since they final walked off the court docket as a staff.
Johnny Juzang, Jules Bernard and Peyton Watson all determined to go to the NBA Draft. Cody Riley went professional abroad. Myles Johnson stepped away from the sport. Jake Kyman transferred to Wyoming. Jaime Jaquez Jr. had ankle surgical procedure.
UCLA males’s basketball misplaced assistant coach Michael Lewis and changed him with Serbia native Ivo Simovic. The legalization of student-athletes profiting off of their identify, picture and likeness rights hit its one yr anniversary and is continuous to develop exponentially. The college’s athletic division as a complete went from a place of relative stability to a much more turbulent one, with the Bruins set to maneuver from the Pac-12 to the Huge Ten in 2024.
Coach Mick Cronin has spent the previous few months figuring out every of the oncoming challenges, and determined to benefit from the shifting panorama.
“I am accepting the adjustments and making an attempt to determine one of the best methods to proceed to make UCLA an elite program,” Cronin mentioned.
Since Lewis agreed to take the Ball State head teaching job earlier than UCLA was even knocked out of the Candy 16 by North Carolina, changing him was one of many first gadgets on Cronin’s to-do checklist.
Cronin made an out-of-the-box rent by bringing in Simovic in June, contemplating his expertise within the faculty recreation was restricted to transient assistant stints at smaller East Coast colleges like Loyola Maryland, UNC Charlotte and Hartford. Extra importantly, although, Simovic got here from Serbia, with teaching, scouting and recruiting expertise in each his residence nation and Spain.
With Simovic in home, Cronin has already been capable of carve out a world recruiting pipeline of types. Italian swingman Abramo Canka was added to this yr’s roster simply two months after Simovic’s hiring, and five-star freshman massive man Adem Bona spent the summer time enjoying for Group Turkey within the FIBA U20 Championships.
“It is one thing I’ve at all times thought could be nice if I might do it,” Cronin mentioned. “It is onerous – I attempted to dabble in it at Cincinnati, and I discovered that dabbling does not work, that you’ve got gotta have somebody in your workers with the connections and that is their major focus.”
Cronin was complimentary of Canka’s recreation, based mostly on what he had seen over the summer time, particularly highlighting how his handles, passing and size will help change Juzang and Bernard’s roles on the wing.
5-star combo guard Amari Bailey and four-star level guard Dylan Andrews make up the remainder of the incoming freshman class alongside Canka and Bona. The backcourt depth, Cronin mentioned, would assist take the load off of fifth-year senior Tyger Campbell, who has but to have a real backup on the level since taking on in 2019.
Many had assumed Andrews would tackle most of these secondary ball-handling obligations, however Cronin is assured Bailey – a top-10 recruit within the class of 2022 – has what it takes to be a high-level level guard on the faculty degree.
“I do my very own evaluating, I take a number of satisfaction within the success I’ve had with that,” Cronin mentioned. “Amari Bailey’s a fantastic passer, nice ball-handler – as is Dylan Andrews. I believe each of these guys are gonna actually, actually assist Tyger.”
The brand new faces will encompass a veteran roster that – regardless of shedding Juzang, Bernard, Watson, Riley, Johnson and Kyman – nonetheless boasts loads of returning expertise.
Scroll to Proceed
Jaquez has totally recovered from his ankle accidents and is again to his regular self. David Singleton is heading into his fifth season within the rotation. Jaylen Clark, who Cronin mentioned would have already damaged out final yr if it weren’t for a preseason concussion and prolonged midseason COVID hiatus, might lastly accomplish that this yr.
Huge man Mac Etienne and guard Will McClendon each missed final yr with torn ACLs, and Cronin mentioned he hopes to have them collaborating in full contact drills when practices get occurring Thursday. Even heart Kenneth Nwuba, who solely performed a complete of 235 minutes throughout Cronin’s three seasons in Westwood, has apparently put in sufficient work within the offseason to actually problem for minutes down low.
“He is a man that had a protracted strategy to go, and once you’ve bought a protracted strategy to go, you’ve got gotta work tougher than everyone else,” Cronin mentioned. “That was his focus all spring.”
However maybe essentially the most momentous change, extra so than any damage restoration or incoming freshman, is the Bruins’ impending transfer to the Huge Ten, even whether it is nonetheless two years away.
Cronin has been by one thing like this earlier than, though the circumstances have been far completely different. Cincinnati was in its second yr within the Huge East when Cronin took over that program in 2006.
Six years later, after Cronin’s Bearcats had improved their document year-over-year each season and made it to the convention title recreation and Candy 16, the convention cut up up. Cincinnati went to the American Athletic Convention, which Cronin mentioned was tough to promote recruits on and nonetheless hampers the Bearcats to this present day.
Cronin acknowledged it might be a unique form of transition for UCLA to enter a high-level convention somewhat than an inferior one, emphasizing the changes his staff would have make to new officiating, elevated journey and unfamiliar environments.
“Simply from completely different groups leaving completely different conferences, I believe the secret’s you gotta nonetheless keep your identification, in order that’ll be my focus,” Cronin mentioned. “You’ll be able to’t lose your identification and your footprint and what’s made you profitable, despite the fact that you are altering leagues.”
In keeping with Cronin, his job by no means has been and by no means can be straightforward, however he is used to that by now.
“I’ve by no means actually had a time in my life the place I wasn’t working onerous,” Cronin mentioned. “You’re employed for Bob Huggins and Rick Pitino across the clock, constructing packages across the clock, constructing Cincinnati across the clock after which the Huge East breaks up and it turns into twice as onerous, you come right here and COVID occurs, now it is NIL. What I’ve discovered is – now that I am a California man, my line to folks is ‘You simply gotta trip the wave.'”
Cronin mentioned he needs he might reside by that mantra actually and do his greatest Patrick Swayze in “Level Break” impression, however that he hasn’t been capable of surf since present process proper knee surgical procedure over 30 years in the past.
As an alternative, he’ll have to stay to teaching hoops in the interim, main the Bruins by an ever-changing future.
Comply with Connon on Twitter at @SamConnon
Comply with All Bruins on Twitter at @FN_AllBruins
Like All Bruins on Fb at @FN.AllBruins
Subscribe to All Bruins on YouTube
Learn extra UCLA tales: UCLA Bruins on Sports activities Illustrated
Learn extra UCLA males’s basketball tales: UCLA Males’s Basketball on Sports activities Illustrated
