In Reply to: Loaded with what? posted by Dr.Bruin on December 02, 2025 at 01:10:53
No, not really. We're talking about freaking Jaquez, Campbell, Singleton, Wilkes, Hands, Bernard, Riley, J Hill, among others. The roster Cronin INHERITED at UCLA was as loaded as any they've had over the last decade. Great guard depth, versatile two-way players, athleticism, team-first guys, etc.
So no, this isn't a compliment. The roster Cronin got to coach was the one Alford spent years building, after some missteps with his recruiting strategies. To be clear, Alford leaves a lot to be desired as a coach, but by the end of his tenure at UCLA, he was thriving as a recruiter. He maximized UCLA's potential as a destination school for elite talent.
Remember Steve Lavin? Gonna assume you've been following UCLA hoops for longer than 10 years. The roster he inherited from Jim Harrick had Toby Bailey, Dollar, K Johnson, McCoy, and C Obannon (who was All Pac that year). Lavin got them to the Elite Eight. He never got past the S16 after that, largely because Lavin (like Alford) leaves a lot to be desired as a coach. But that first roster he had was LOADED, a dividend paid by the 1995 national title and Harrick's strong tenure at UCLA.
Cronin inherited arguably an even MORE loaded roster in 2019, and the following spring he added Juzang. Juzang has arguably been the single most important recruit Cronin has gotten at UCLA. He took that team from being competitive to a Final Four contender, often in spite of all the bile and nonsense Cronin was spewing on the sideline.
Look, dude...I know you think Cronin is the cat's pajamas. I just disagree. Strongly. We can do better than this clown, as we have in the past. Our AD and other administrators are going to learn from the Cronin mistake, and the next hire is gonna be someone we're all excited about and happy with. I trust our administration to get it right, and I trust that Cronin will fade into late career irrelevance once he loses access to UCLA's considerable resources. He may get a job somewhere, but he'll never get a sniff of an elite job again. He got lucky getting this job, and he blew it. Just like I knew he would.