The world of college basketball is much different than it was just a few years ago. Players are now able to make money off of their name, image, and likeness, and that ability, combined with the explosion in popularity of the transfer portal, has resulted in a shifting landscape in which players aren’t that far removed from being professional free agents. It’s become increasingly rare to see athletes stay at one school from the beginning to the end of their college career.
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UCLA men’s basketball head coach Mick Cronin is a guy with a very defined reputation. His teams are invariably very tough, very defensive-minded, and very difficult to eliminate in March. That’s been the case dating back to his very first head coaching job at Murray State, where he led the Racers to two NCAA Tournament appearances in three years.
Cronin has only honed his approach since then, first by turning Cincinnati into a perennial March Madness participant, then by taking UCLA to its first Final Four in over a decade. His Bruins dominated Utah State yesterday to make it to the Round of 32, and after the game, he spoke about how, for most players, college basketball is tough, which makes it a perfect metaphor for life.
“Guys get to college and it’s way harder than they thought, unless your name is Michael Jordan or Cooper Flagg,” Cronin said. “Then you either make excuses, quit, transfer, blame others, or you get to work, and that’s what life’s about.”
More and more players these days aren’t opting for the “get to work” part, because transferring and starting fresh somewhere else is so easy.
College basketball doesn’t reward hard work the way it used to
We’ve all seen those NCAA commercials that tell us that most college athletes won’t get to turn professional in their chosen sport, which is why it’s so imperative that coaches like Mike Cronin exist. Playing sports is about more than just winning and losing, it’s about teamwork and learning the skills needed to succeed in life.
Conveniently, those life skills do come in handy on the basketball court, which is why we usually see senior-laden teams that have spent years together at one school succeed in March. Cronin spoke just last week after a Big Ten Tournament game about how he doesn’t blame the players for their me-first mentality because it’s ingrained in them at such a young age.
“Too much goes on in youth basketball where it’s about ‘me’ and not ‘we,'” he said. “That’s why you hear all the NBA guys now talking about why there’s so many Europeans because they actually play real basketball.”
Guys like Michael Jordan and Cooper Flagg have the talent to overcome adversity more easily, but those types of players still succeed ultimately because of their mentality. That drive to be great, combined with their physical gifts, is what makes them special players. If more players put in the work and cared about the team first, the game would be in a much better place.
Cronin’s Bruins face a huge test in their second-round matchup, as they’ll go against 2-seed Tennessee on Saturday. The Volunteers, with their elite defense and senior leadership, look a lot like a Mick Cronin team. This is going to be one of the best battles of the early rounds.
