Adam Zagoria in Forbes: UCLA's Mick Cronin Says Schools Negative Recruit Against His Style, Wants To Lead Nation in Offense

Mick Cronin is introduced as the UCLA's new head basketball coach at a news conference on the campus in Los Angeles Wednesday, April 10, 2019. Cronin was hired as UCLA's basketball coach Tuesday, ending a bumpy, months-long search to find a replacement for the fired Steve Alford. The university said Cronin agreed to a $24 million, six-year deal. Photo credit pac12.com link

jun 27, 2019 | adam zagoria | forbes.com | post LINK

New UCLA men's basketball coach Mick Cronin says he knows other schools are out there negatively recruiting against his coaching style and he's vowed to do something about.

Cronin says other schools tell recruits that Cronin is a defensive-oriented coach who won't let them shine offensively.

"I get [ticked] off when I read about all we do is play defense and nobody tends to look at the fact that we're 1-2 in scoring in the American [Athletic Conference] every year," Cronin said Wednesday by phone in an exclusive interview. "Two years ago we led the nation in margin of victory.

"That's what people try to use against us, it's ridiculous."

After a long and winding coaching search that followed Steve Alford's firing on New Year's Eve Day, Cronin was hired in April and agreed to a six-year, $24-million deal.

Questions abounded about how his supposed "defensive-oriented" style would play in Westwood, and Cronin said schools have been negative recruiting against him since then. He and his staff have been out on the recruiting trail in April and now June.

"I know they [negative recruit] because the assistant coaches that do that stuff, they don't realize, and kids tell you what other people say," Cronin said. "It's comical. It's always going to go on in our business.

"Somehow Kentucky blocks every shot and doesn't let anybody score and nobody says that about them. I think that's a pretty good way for big guys to get to the NBA."

For the record, Cronin's Cincinnati team averaged 71.7 points last season -- No. 9 in the American and No. 198 nationally.

They allowed 62.7 points per game -- No. 14 nationally.

In 2016-17, the Bearcats led the American in scoring at 74.3 points per game. In 2017-18, they ranked third at 74.2.

Cronin has no trouble reciting his accomplishments as an offensive coach.

"Other than Oscar Robertson, I coached the leading scorer in the history of Cincinnati basketball, who was recruited by Manhattan and Iona," he said of former Bearcats star Sean Kilpatrick, a White Plains, N.Y native. "I redshirted him and developed him and he's like my little brother.

"I've coached the last two players of the year in our conference, Jarron Cumberland and Gary Clark so we coach offense,"

Cronin added. "We've taken guys who are three-star recruits and gotten 'em drafted or turned them into pros, and all-league players and player of the year in our league."

Addressing the idea that he only coaches defense, Cronin added, "That narrative is tired and I think it's a lazy narrative."

Cronin just began summer workouts with his team on Tuesday and said it's too early to have any expectations of this group.

Sophomore guard David Singleton (broken foot), redshirt freshman guard Tyger Campbell (ACL) and redshirt freshman forward Shareef O'Neal (heart surgery) are all coming back from injuries.

"David Singleton is still out, hoping to get him back soon from his broken foot," Cronin said. "But obviously then it will take him  some time to get his conditioning.

"Tyger looks good. He's out on the court doing some stuff, moving, but we're going to be cautious with him. But there's no need to be in a hurry with him, it's summer. I don't believe you can win games in the summer, but I think you can lose them by pushing guys too hard. I think the summer's for improvement but I think you gotta be smart about what you're doing."

As for O'Neal, he has looked good in two games in the Drew League, with Duke commit Cassius Stanley telling me O'Neal, the son of Shaquille O'Neal, could be "scary" in terms of what he brings to UCLA. (For more on O'Neal, read my story over at FloHoops.com.).

"We're just in the lab working," Cronin said. "Without David and Tyger, we just started."

He added of his team's goals for the 2019-20 season: "I can promise you that we'll play together and we're going to play hard. And we're not going to be easily defeated becasue we won't give games away."

Asked if he plans to play a style at UCLA similar to what he ran at Cincinnati, Cronin quipped, "If you would call that winning a lot of games, yes. The last three years we won 89 games."

And about that negative recruiting thing and how he only coaches defense, Cronin has a message for Bruins fans and fans of college basketball everywhere.

"We'd like to lead the nation in offense, defense and rebounding," he said.

Thanks to mh for posting this article on BZ.