It didn’t matter what question was asked of UCLA coach Mick Cronin Tuesday night during a news conference in the aftermath of the Bruins’ 94-75 loss to Michigan. He was going to make sure his team heard exactly what he thought of them, even if it led him to sobering revelations that subsequently went viral.
For nearly 10 minutes in front of reporters in Westwood, Cronin unloaded on UCLA’s effort in what became a rant replayed throughout the college basketball world once the late night Big Ten game ended. Cronin made the theme obvious by bluntly calling his players ‘soft’ and ‘delusional.’
‘It’s really hard to coach people that are delusional,’ Cronin said. ‘The hungry dog gets the bone. We got guys who think they’re way better than they are. They’re nice kids. They’re completely delusional about who they are and the team whose mind is on the right stuff and hungry to get a win in conference play is the team that’s probably going to win.’
UCLA (11-4, 2-2) entered the game ranked No. 21 in the USA Today Coaches Poll, but neither players nor Cronin’s assistant coaches escaped his wrath. He criticized many of the team’s key players by name, particularly given the defensive breakdowns the Bruins endured in their loss at Nebraska last Saturday and then again Tuesday against No. 24 Michigan (12-3, 4-0) in front of a home crowd. The Wolverines shot better than 62 percent from the field, hit 15 3-pointers in the game and got 36 points from big man Vlad Goldin.
Cronin’s frustrations boiled over almost as soon as he got behind a microphone.
‘I have to run on the court to get guys to play hard,’ Cronin said. ‘It’s crazy and it’s every day and I’m tired of it. It’s every day. I have the most energy of anybody at practice any day. I’m upset with everybody in that locker room – my assistant coaches and my players. I mean I don’t need to do anything else. I almost got 500 wins. I’m only 53. You’d think I’m coaching the Lakers. I mean it’s a joke. It’s a joke. But yet I come in and I have more passion and energy and pride than everybody in there. That’s the problem. That is the truth right now.’
Cronin is in his sixth season at UCLA after a successful 13-year run at Cincinnati. He took the Bruins to the Final Four in 2021, made the Sweet 16 the next two seasons, and won the Pac-12 championship and coach of the year honors in 2023. UCLA did not make the NCAA Tournament last season when it finished with a 16-17 record.
Despite significant roster turnover in recent years due to the transfer portal, UCLA started this season with wins in 10 of its first 11 games. The Bruins’ résumé already includes wins over Oregon, Gonzaga and Arizona. But they’ve lost three of their past four games after the setback against Michigan and a cross-country road trip to Maryland and Rutgers in the new-look Big Ten awaits over the next week.
If Cronin’s players didn’t know how he felt before, he left no doubt Tuesday.
‘The only chance we have, and I told them this on July 8th, is to be the toughest team and have a great defensive team,’ Cronin said. ‘We don’t have anybody that was an all-league player last year in any league – and we got guys from a lot of leagues.
‘The toughest guy in the room can’t be me every day,’ he added. ‘You can only do so much.’
The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast.Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.