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UCLA Basketball: Expert Identifies Biggest Pro, Con Of This Year's Squad

Things are sure to be new for UCLA this season.

Matt Wagner

UCLA Basketball: Expert Identifies Biggest Pro, Con Of This Year's Squad
UCLA Basketball: Expert Identifies Biggest Pro, Con Of This Year's Squad /
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UCLA basketball is coming off yet another successful season under fifth-year head coach Mick Cronin, winning the regular season Pac-12 title before falling to Gonzaga in the NCAA Tournament, but there are some questions surrounding next season's Bruins.

That's largely due to the losses of multiple program stalwarts.

All-American forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. left for the NBA, as did guards Jaylen Clark, Amari Bailey, Tyger Campbell and David Singleton.

That leaves an interesting puzzle for Cronin to solve next season? Just how will UCLA move forward in this new era?

CBS Sports' Jon Rothstein is curious as well.

UCLA will have one of the deeper rosters in the Pac-12 next season, but given the sheer amount of key players leaving the program, will that cause problems for the Bruins this year?

The Bruins have a consensus top 20 recruiting class headlined by four star guard Sebastian Mack and four star forward Devin Williams. Joining them is another four star guard Ilane Fibleuil from France, four star forward Brandon Williams, and lastly another guard in three star Jan Vide.

That doesn't even include wing Lazar Stefanovic, who transferred in from Utah this offseason.

Although the Bruins roster will undergo a complete youth movement this year, there's nothing to suggest that the momentum created in Cronin's first four seasons will end.

Cronin and his staff are excellent at development. You just need to look at Jaquez's marked improvement for one significant example.

Given that the Bruins recruiting class is both talented and well rounded, Cronin should have no problem making the 2023-2024 team one of the better ones in the nation.

Add in Stefanovic and returning big man Adem Bona, and the Bruins have all the pieces in place to be one of the more underrated teams in the country this preseason.

Yes, the nucleus responsible for the best era of UCLA basketball since the late 2000's is gone. But the coach that led the way is still in Westwood, and given that the Bruins do have a deep roster, it should be another good campaign for them this season.

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Matt Wagner
MATT WAGNER

Matt Wagner was born and raised in southern California, and he lived there before moving to Colorado and getting his B.A. in Communications from the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs in 2022. He relocated back to southern California in 2023 and is looking forward to covering the teams that mean so much to his home area. Some of his past work is in Bleacher Report, Dodgers Tailgate, and, most recently, Colorado Buffaloes Wire. Aside from writing, you can probably catch him petting the nearest dog or eating some good Mexican food.