The UCLA Bruins are looking to bounce back from a disappointing season under sixth-year head coach Mick Cronin. The Bruins went 16-17 last season, ending a three-year run of reaching the Sweet 16.
Following the season, UCLA saw massive departures. Six-foot-10 center Adem Bona bolted for the NBA, where he was a second-round pick of the Philadelphia 76ers. French forward Ilene Fibeuil turned pro in France, and three others, Berke Buyuktuncel (Nebraska), Jan Vide (LMU), and Will McClendon (San Jose State), transferred.
“You know how I look at everything, man,” Cronin said before UCLA’s first official practice earlier this week. I just tell it like it is. It’s not like I put a gun to anybody’s head. Obviously, you have to offer guys money. But they could have went other places. Guys are returning that could have left.”
UCLA Bruins Restocked For Upcoming Season, Mick Cronin “It’s not like I put a gun to anybody’s head”
Cronin did an excellent job hitting the transfer portal to replace the lost players. 247Sports ranked the Bruins’ eight-man recruiting class 23rd in the nation, which included the ninth-best transfer class, which consisted of six players.
The Bruins brought in Dominick Harris (LMU), William Kyle (South Dakota State), Tyler Bilodeau (Oregon State), Eric Dailey (Oklahoma State), Kobe Johnson (USC), and Skyy Clark (Louisville) as transfers.
Cronin said he has made the expectations of being a Bruin clear to all his players. The Bruins have produced four winning seasons and are 115-53 under Cronin, with one conference regular-season title and one Final Four appearance.
“It’s UCLA. We’re getting as many good players as we can because the standard here is try to hang up a banner. We could win the Big Ten Regular Season Championship. Our fans are not gonna care. They might be happy, but they’re really not gonna care. When you’re here it’s about the NCAA Tournament banners and that type of thing. It wasn’t like everybody wasn’t told. Hey, this is what it’s gotta be. You know.
We’re all about improving. And getting you to where you want to go. Here it’s about UCLA basketball. Best tradition in college basketball. I don’t really want to hear about any complaints and all that stuff all year. Because you signed up for it. You coulda left! Or you didn’t have to come. I’m sure you had maybe a better offer or more money, something somewhere else.”
Looking At UCLA’s Roster
In addition to the newcomers, the Bruins return three of their top four scorers from a year ago. Junior guard Dylan Andrews showed massive improvement in year 2 and led the team in scoring and assists. Sophomore Sebastian Mack and senior Lazar Stefanovic, who topped the squad in rebounding, also scored in double figures.
Andrews, Stefanovic, and Mack are expected to lead the way once again. But the Bruins will be deeper this year, and they will heavily count on the transfers, particularly Johnson, Bilodeau, and Dailey.
Cronin’s main task this training camp will be to improve the Bruins’ offense. The Bruins averaged just 66 points per game as a team, tied for 336th in college basketball. They were 311th in shooting percentage (41.9%) from the field and 33.2 percent from the three-point line, tied for 227th in college basketball.
“I would say an issue last year was getting the ball in the basket from anywhere,” Cronin told reporters Wednesday. “If you go to our last game, we missed seven two-footers against Oregon in the Pac-12 Tournament … we have obviously a whole new team this year. Skyy, Dom, Trent, Kobe, they can all shoot.”
But it is Johnson who Cronin said has impressed him the most thus far. Johnson is a versatile defensive ace coming off a career season. In his final season at USC, he averaged 10.6 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 3.3 assists with shooting splits of 40.4/32.9/72.6.
“Kobe Johnson’s in a whole different class,” Cronin said on Wednesday, the first day of fall practice. “He’s with [former Bruin] Jaylen Clark as the best two defenders I’ve ever been around.”
