When Dusty May brought his Michigan Wolverines to Assembly Hall last Saturday, many believed the future Indiana head coach could have been roaming the visitors’ sidelines. While that still may prove true, it could just as easily be tonight’s game where the visiting coach is next in line to become the Hoosiers’ head man.
That’s because Mick Cronin, UCLA head coach, is bringing his Bruins for a Friday night showdown. But, like May’s return to Bloomington, there’s more to this one than meets the eye.
For one, it’s the first time in UCLA’s storied history that the program will play inside Assembly Hall. However, the real noise lies in whether Cronin is a possible candidate for the soon-to-be-open Indiana job.
Cronin, a Midwest guy, has expressed displeasure with UCLA’s travel and NIL situations, leading some Hoosier fans to believe he might be eager to leave Los Angeles.
Cronin has also won everywhere he’s been. The former Murray State and Cincinnati coach has a career record of 498-230 (.684 win percentage) and boasts three Sweet 16 appearances and one Final Four run on his résumé.
His track record of winning, combined with the circumstances surrounding his current situation at UCLA, make it plausible that he could be on Indiana’s radar in its head coaching search.
While it’s still speculation, here’s a closer look at whether Cronin would be a viable candidate for Indiana, should he seek a new job after this season.
WHY IT MAKES SENSE
Like I mentioned, there are several factors that have led parts of the Indiana fanbase to believe Cronin is the right guy for the job.
He grew up in Cincinnati and played high school basketball for his dad, though Cronin did not play college ball, electing to pursue a degree at the University of Cincinnati instead.
While at UC, Cronin coached JV high school ball, beginning his coaching career at just 18 years old, already planting his coaching roots in the Midwest.
After graduating, Cronin joined the Cincinnati staff under Bob Huggins, holding an assistant coach position until 2001. He would then spend two years as an assistant at Louisville under Rick Pitino.
While this may seem like meaningless backstory, his roots near Indiana are a main reason why Cronin to Bloomington makes sense.
After his tenure as an assistant, he spent three seasons at Murray State as its head coach, winning two OVC tournament championships, thus competing in the NCAA Tournament in two of his three seasons at MSU.
This attracted his alma mater, Cincinnati, to make a move and sign Cronin as its head coach. He would keep up with his success with the Bearcats, making nine tournaments in 13 years with UC.
This included two regular-season AAC titles, as well as two tournament championships, with the Bearcats making the Sweet 16 once in the Cronin era.
The culture of winning he built at Murray State and Cincinnati intrigued UCLA, where Cronin has coached since 2019. The Bruins have made three tournaments in his five seasons in L.A., though that number is essentially four because of the canceled tournament in 2020.
While he's found success at UCLA, Cronin has expressed displeasure with his situation surrounding NIL, as well as the super-conference era.
Cronin said, "There's a big gap" between UCLA and other schools' NIL funds, making IU a potential place Cronin would want to jump to because of the Hoosiers' vast NIL resources.
He's also spoken negatively about his team's travel situation, saying, "Oh, a Big Ten team has to come to L.A., where it's 70 degrees, once. You're asking me to feel sorry because Iowa had to come to L.A. for a few days? We've seen the Statue of Liberty twice in three weeks!"
With Cronin's stance on the new age of college basketball, plus his background in Midwest basketball, it's not crazy to assume that he'd want to go back to a job that's similar to where it all started, while also having vast NIL funds.
WHY IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE
While there are a lot of reasons why Cronin to Indiana makes sense, there are also a few factors that point to it not being the right move for the Hoosiers.
To start, Cronin's buyout of $10 million after March 31 is one of the higher prices on the market, making it more of a financial burden to sign him than Dusty May, Scott Drew, or Brad Stevens.
On top of that, Cronin is known as a defensive-minded coach. While this may seem like a positive, the college game is transitioning more and more toward an offensive-oriented environment, meaning IU may want to look at a more offensive-focused coach.
Every national champion since 2014 has been in the top nine of KenPom's offensive efficiency rating, while no champion in that span has had a better defensive rating compared to its rating on offense.
Cronin's UCLA and Cincinnati teams consistently had better defense than offense, meaning he might not fit in with the new age of national champions, possibly disqualifying him from winning Indiana's sixth title if he became the Hoosiers' head coach.
Cronin has also been known to be very outspoken, one instance being just months ago when he called out his UCLA team in a press conference.
He said, "We’re soft… Every day, I have more passion and energy in practice than anybody else. I’m tired of it. It’s a joke… The truth of it is, it’s really hard to coach guys who are delusional."
While some fans may like when a coach publicly criticizes his players, Indiana may want to go in a different direction because of this.
Cronin is a proven winner, but because of these factors, Scott Dolson and company may want to look at other options in their coaching search.
FINAL THOUGHTS
There are a ton of reasons why Cronin would be a good fit to be the next coach of Indiana, but there are also reasons that lead me to believe it wouldn't work — making this a very interesting call on Indiana's part.
Cronin's winning ways are a huge plus, as is his public displeasure regarding several aspects of his current job, with those two being the biggest factors in favor of his potential move to Bloomington.
With expanded NIL potential and a centralized location close to home, the Indiana job has everything Cronin says he wants. However, his coaching style may not be the right fit if Indiana wants to modernize its program.
All told, this Indiana head coaching search will involve countless names that aren't Cronin, meaning that Cronin's fate with IU may simply depend on where the rest of the dominoes fall.
But, for now, Cronin will be on the opposing bench tonight for his Bruins' clash with an Indiana team that has never hosted UCLA at Assembly Hall before.
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