Mick Cronin is the 10th (full-time) head coach employed by UCLA since John Wooden occupied that position from 1948 to 1975. The new coach's nine post-Wooden predecessors combined to win 70 percent of their games while reaching six Final Fours and winning one national title.
At any ordinary program, that would constitute an exemplary track record over the past 45 years. Then again, UCLA is no ordinary program.
In Westwood, a bit like at Indiana, there's a presumption of preeminence. As with the Hoosiers, this presumption with regard to the Bruins is a product of the 20th century that, seemingly, has remained unfulfilled in the 21st.
Even Ben Howland's run of three consecutive Final Fours from 2006 to 2008 proved to be but a preamble to the coach's firing in 2013. UCLA hasn't been to a national semifinal (or, for that matter, an Elite Eight) since Howland, Russell Westbrook and Kevin Love took the Bruins there 11 years ago.
Now Cronin has inherited these lofty expectations. How will the new coach fare in Westwood?
Cronin in 2019 looks a bit like Howland did when he arrived
When Howland was hired in 2003 to succeed Steve Lavin, the former Pitt head coach was a few weeks shy of his 46th birthday. Howland was coming off of back-to-back runs to the Sweet 16, a level of tournament success befitting a Panthers team that was 57-11 (and 26-6 in Big East play) over the course of those two seasons.
As for Cronin, he took Cincinnati to just one Sweet 16 (in 2012), but, other than that, there are a number of similarities between the two UCLA hires separated by 16 years. The former Bearcats head coach is 48, and his UC teams posted an 89-18 record (including a 46-8 mark in conference play) over the past three years.
Though deep NCAA tournament runs have remained elusive for Cronin, his NCAA tournament bids have been notably plentiful. Cincinnati has appeared in each of the past nine brackets while rarely if ever having to sweat Selection Sunday. Its lowest seed over that span was a No. 10.
For the record, looking like Howland did in 2003 is a good thing. Say what you will about the current Mississippi State head coach and the later stages of his tenure in Westwood, but he presided over arguably UCLA's most successful three-season run since the days of Wooden himself.
Coaches come and go at UCLA, but recruiting (usually) stays strong
Talk of the UCLA program being in "free-fall" is understandable. The Bruins are 38-28 over the past two seasons, and the only NCAA tournament showing recorded by the team in that span was a listless 65-58 loss to St. Bonaventure in the 2018 First Four.
Still, the one constant across both the Howland and Steve Alford eras was excellent recruiting. Duke and Kentucky are on their own level in that category, needless to say, but among "other" programs nationally, the Bruins have been right there statistically with North Carolina, Kansas and Arizona in the one-and-done era.
Indeed, consensus top-20 freshmen have been signing with UCLA now for more than a decade, from Love, Jrue Holiday, Shabazz Muhammad and Kyle Anderson under Howland right through to Kevon Looney, Lonzo Ball and T.J. Leaf in the Alford era. If anything, the talent has actually been superior to the performance in Westwood over the past 10 years or so.
Naturally, recruiting won't happen by itself just because of the name on the jersey. In fact, Cronin will need to get up to speed in that area immediately, as incoming freshmen for both Arizona and USC figure prominently in the ESPN 100 rankings for 2019.
Nevertheless, the new coach won't have to build a tradition of elite recruiting where none existed before. Talk of Bruins players often having to fly commercial notwithstanding, UCLA in recent years has not lacked for talent.
Cronin is an innovator in at least one key respect
UCLA's new coach brings with him a reputation for defense and for "toughness" that is well-earned. Cincinnati really did excel at limiting opposing offenses over the past decade.
What's less well understood, however, is that Cronin is also breaking new and interesting ground on offense. Though Cincinnati was once known for an indifferent performance on the offensive glass, Cronin's Bearcats dominated the offensive boards and made opponents go deep into the shot clock at the other end.
Frequent second chances along with, even more importantly, a low number of turnovers allowed UC to have an offense that was far better than you'd expect given its shooting from the field in each of the past two seasons. Certainly, we've seen very high shot volume at a slow pace before (Bo Ryan, for one, knows his way around this terrain quite well), but Cronin's combination of offensive rebounding and opponent possession length adds an intriguing new spin to a proven method.
With his similarities to the most successful UCLA coach this century, access to the talent he'll need, and demonstrated ability to produce excellence on both sides of the ball, Cronin can get the job done at UCLA. Naturally, the future is a blank page, patience can be scarce in Westwood and the new coach will have to improve on his NCAA tournament record to date (6-11, including an 0-2 mark at Murray State). That said, this is a good hire based on what we know now.