Jack's Take: UCLA’s Mick Cronin Makes Good Impression, Case For Indiana Job

From the way he coached to what he said after the game, UCLA coach Mick Cronin’s pseudo-audition for the Indiana job went well.

UCLA coach Mick Cronin at the Intuit Dome. / Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The timing of the latest Indiana basketball coaching search has created a contrasting sentiment. There’s more intrigue from some fans toward the candidates than the actual basketball, despite the Hoosiers still being on the NCAA Tournament bubble.

It could be a long month or so of back-and-forth thinking between the present and future. The timing of certain matchups and news has added to that dynamic.

Indiana’s first game since announcing Mike Woodson will be stepping down at the end of the 2024-25 season came against Michigan and Indiana alum Dusty May, who received an ovation from the Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall crowd. 

Just hours before its next home game, the dream hire, Brad Stevens, was crossed off Indiana’s list, according to a report from Jeff Goodman. And coincidentally, another candidate would be in town Friday night as Indiana hosted UCLA and coach Mick Cronin.

Cronin always has tough, defensive-minded teams, and the Bruins smothered the Hoosiers in the first half. They pressured the ball on the perimeter, and heId Indiana bigs Oumar Ballo and Malik Reneau to just seven combined first-half points. Indiana trailed 35-25 at halftime and shot just 32.1% from the field. 

Many fans hit the exits as Indiana trailed 70-63 with 2:26 to play after a Sebastian Mack and-one, perhaps turning their conversation from the game to the coaching search. But on the court, the Hoosiers made a valiant comeback, only to fall one shot short of winning or forcing overtime as three good looks from Mackenzie Mgbako and Myles Rice rimmed out on the final possession.

Woodson’s postgame comments were similar to how they’ve gone throughout Indiana’s eight-loss slide in the last 10 games, lamenting, “I wish I had the answer” to his team’s lack of late-game execution. The far more interesting quotes came from the opposite tunnel, where Cronin’s team had just improved to 19-7 overall and 10-5 in the Big Ten.

After making a good impression on the court – stingy defense and 9-for-20 3-point shooting? Count me in, Indiana fans should be thinking – Cronin hit all the right notes postgame. Well, except for misremembering Woodson as a national champion, but that’s beside the point.

At first mention of Indiana’s impending coaching change, Cronin showed respect for all parties. For the Indiana staff and players, saying they’ve been put in a tough position midseason. And for a question that can be uncomfortable to answer, yet noting he understood it had to be asked.

“I would never comment on a coaching situation. It would be wildly inappropriate,” Cronin said. “Because I’m the son of a coach, and the way I look at it is that Mike Woodson’s the coach at Indiana. Now, that man’s coaching his basketball team, and he was a national champion. I happen to know him. I know [Indiana assistant] Kenya Hunter on his staff extremely well for many years and have tremendous respect for their kids and their team.”

That’s certainly not a “no.” Cronin addressed varying angles about his job and the Indiana job. He’s taken UCLA to the Final Four and two Sweet 16s since 2021 but missed the tournament last year, so what would he say to Bruins fans worried he might leave?

“I would say some people might be happy, because some people probably are on our boards wanting me fired,” Cronin said. “I mean, this is just the way, you gotta understand, that stuff in this business – and I’m being dead serious – your popularity rating when you’re a coach, you have to check your ego.” 

“They booed John Calipari at Kentucky, okay. Do you know what he did there? They say, well, he’s the opposing coach. They wouldn’t have booed Bob Knight if he walked in here, I can promise you that. I can promise you that. So that’s just the way it is, man. So I’m well aware that I might be on a board for a job, but my board, somebody might want me to lose my job. And I know I’m laughing, but I’m being serious, man. We get our ass beat Tuesday, I think we play, go ahead, check our boards.”

Cronin also made it clear that he holds the Indiana head coaching position in high regard, and for good reason. College basketball analyst Jon Rothstein recently asked if Indiana is a great job, or if it just had an all-time coach in Bob Knight, since the Hoosiers have only made the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament four times in the last 31 years. While there’s no denying Indiana basketball has fallen off since the Knight era, suggesting it’s not a great job in 2025 is misguided. 

Indiana has strong NIL resources that will greatly help in acquiring high-level players from high school and the transfer portal, regardless of whether they’re from Indiana and the talent-rich surrounding states or other parts of the country. Indiana will also be able to pay its next coach a nationally competitive salary. 

Even despite its lack of success in recent decades, Indiana still gets selected to play in nonconference games and tournaments that receive national television exposure. And with revenue sharing opportunities likely beginning next season, Indiana being connected to the Big Ten’s new television deal is a major plus compared to other conferences.

Its huge, passionate fan base makes the job attractive, too. Some have argued that Indiana’s fan base can be toxic because of its high expectations, and that coaches may not want to walk into such a pressure-filled job. It takes the right mindset to handle that, and coaches who shy away from that aren’t fit for the job.

In some ways, Cronin is used to that at UCLA, a program with 11 national titles.

“There’s obviously blue blood jobs,” Cronin said. “And people write these articles now, like what’s – because we haven’t won the title since ‘95. So it’s never gonna change. The Yankees are always going to be the Yankees. UCLA basketball, Indiana basketball is always gonna be – that’s just the way it is. So I don’t think, even though, what’s it been since coach, since Steve [Alford] won it? ‘87, yeah, so it’s still the Hoosiers, man.”

Cronin’s coaching and postgame comments reflected well on his potential as the Hoosiers’ next coach, and previous rants suggest he may be open to leaving Los Angeles. In January 2024, Cronin said there’s a big gap between UCLA’s NIL support and where he’d like it to be. After losing to Michigan in January 2025, Cronin called his players soft and delusional. 

Mick Cronin went OFF on his players following their loss to Michigan 😳

“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” pic.twitter.com/abGQdPkfQN

— The Field of 68 (@TheFieldOf68) January 8, 2025

After beating Iowa a month ago, the first of a seven game-win streak, Cronin, a Cincinnati native pointed out the disadvantage UCLA faces due to increased travel since joining the Big Ten. Would a coach who wants to stay in his current job for the long-term make those comments? I’m not convinced.

Mick Cronin on UCLA's travel, and if other teams coming out west balances it out:

"Oh, a Big 10 team has to come to LA, where it's 70 degrees, once. You're asking me to feel sorry because Iowa had to come to LA for a few days? We've seen the Statue of Liberty twice in 3 weeks!" pic.twitter.com/NQgmenQvVY

— The Field of 68 (@TheFieldOf68) January 18, 2025

When I wrote about Cronin in the lead-up to the Indiana game, “no” filled the social media comments sections from Indiana fans, mostly because of his fiery personality, which I found ironic given Bob Knight’s demeanor.

That was enough to overlook Cronin averaging 25 wins per season since 2010-11, or reaching 12 of the last 13 NCAA Tournaments, including a Final Four run and three Sweet 16s. That makes Cronin one of seven coaches with 10 NCAA Tournament appearances since 2012. Two are retired, and the other five are as unrealistic as Brad Stevens.

So now that Stevens is off the board, the more probable candidates shift into focus. And everything that went down Friday, plus his consistent track record of winning, Cronin should be high on the list.

Related stories on Indiana basketball

• UNLIKELY NAMES: With a long runway for Indiana to consider its next coach, a lot of names will be mentioned, but there’s some obvious ones to rule out. CLICK HERE

• NATE OATS: The Alabama coach runs a very efficient offense, but prying him away from Tuscaloosa would be a big challenge. CLICK HERE.

• STEVENS WON'T COACH INDIANA: Brad Stevens is content to stay in Boston and continue to lead the Celtics organization. CLICK HERE.

• MICK CRONIN COACHING PROFILE: UCLA coach Mick Cronin has an impressive resume and would cultivate toughness within the Indiana basketball program. Is a hefty buyout at a historic program enough to keep him in Los Angeles? CLICK HERE

• BRUCE PEARL COACHING PROFILE: The Auburn coach has the No. 1 team in the nation and once coached in the state of Indiana. Pearl's winning ways make him attractive. CLICK HERE

• DUSTY MAY NEW CONTRACT? Michigan is reportedly working on keeping basketball coach Dusty May in Ann Arbor to counter interest from Indiana, his alma mater. CLICK HERE

• TODD'S TAKE: If Todd Golden were running Indiana's coaching search, the first call would go to Matt Painter. CLICK HERE.