mrmax86
Fight. Strain. Compete.
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UCLA missed out on many coaches before hiring Cronin
UCLA fired Steve Alford on Dec. 31, so it had a head-start in the hiring process. The school set its sights high, but came up short in its pursuit of a bevy of upper echelon candidates.
Among the coaches pursued by UCLA were Kentucky’s John Calipari, Virginia’s Tony Bennett, TCU’s Jamie Dixon and Tennessee’s Rick Barnes.
Calipari leveraged the interest from UCLA into a “lifetime” contract at Kentucky. Bennett, who coached the Cavs to a national title on Monday night, was not interested. Dixon and UCLA reportedly hit a snag over UCLA’s reluctance to pay the $8 million buyout to separate Dixon from his contract at TCU. Barnes, after mulling the decision for a few days, turned down UCLA Monday night in order to stay at Tennessee.
The floundering search reflected the reality of UCLA’s fall from the top of college basketball. Now Cronin will be tasked with bringing the Bruins back up the ladder.
I gotta say...after what they put us through, I hope Cronin doesn't 'bring them back up the ladder.'
Well, for his own sake I hope he's better in the tournament at UCLA than he's been at Cincy. 6-9 in tournament games.Cronin is a heck of a coach. Will probably be spun as they "settled" for him (and the coaches they tried to get ahead of him were definitely higher profile, except maybe Dixon), but the dude can coach.
I think he's been in 9 in a row, but his best was one time Sweet 16...lots of one and done.I'd actually say it's pretty good for UCLA. Cronin is a good coach, about as good as one can expect to change jobs willingly. Been to a bunch of NCAAs. Often in the top 25. Assisted some legends. Fairly young as coaches go. He should do well at UCLA.