Mick Cronin

[BFo8]

Coach of the year candidate. Six weeks ago they were in last place in the PAC and after tonight are in 1st place and almost certainly heading to the tournament. I always try to be ahead of the curve on these things, but in no way did I see this coming this season. Program looked to be heading downhill rapidly and I thought it would take him at least 2-3 years for him to get his type of guys playing his style. Great job.

Will give Walton a little credit also tonight. When it was being discussed how mightily UCLA struggled early the other announcer brought up losses to Fullerton and Hofstra and Walton immediately replied “Hofstra is a good team”. I always bash his attention span to what’s going on, but was impressed that he was aware Hofstra is solid this year.

While I’m giving credit to coaches that are relatively new to to their schools will mention Danny Hurley at UConn and TJ Otzelberger at UNLV also. Both have their teams playing their best basketball at the right time and may be worth a look in the upcoming conference tournaments.

 

[FireballZ]

I’ve talked up Mick many times on this board, mainly to jeers. He should have been our coach after JD.

 

[TheLogicalTake]

Mick is a top 5 coach in the country. What he did at Cincy never got enough attention, but was damn impressive. I always thought he would be the perfect coach here but it would’ve been tough to get him out of Cincy and we couldn’t risk getting turned down. He’s a super guy, as well. Very happy for the success he’s having out there

 

[anon_d97v9o3a8b6xr]

I don’t remember Cronin getting huge praise here from the board. I do remember lots of talk about thug players and that kind of stuff.
the dude can coach. I’d rather have seen Cronin as a final candidate than Hurley.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

I don’t remember Cronin getting huge praise here from the board. I do remember lots of talk about thug players and that kind of stuff.
the dude can coach. I’d rather have seen Cronin as a final candidate than Hurley.

He was getting huge praise from me. I posted several times we should offer him. Both after Dixon and Stallings.

 

[PharMorNightStocker]

He's a good coach, and I've always liked him in a respect sort of way. Cincinnati has really enjoyed a lot more recent success in both football and basketball than they probably should have, and I'm sure a lot of that has to do with who they're hiring. Kudos to them.

That said, the PAC 12 is really weak this year. Probably no different from college basketball in general, but it's still weak.

 

[PittAU]

I always liked Cronin. I think he's good. They had a terrible culture at UCLA and I think he's had to really kick some ass inside that locker room.

 

[BballinsiderfromPitt]

Cronin won’t reach Howland levels but he’ll do awfully well there. They don’t need a guy who’s known as a recruiter, it’s LA they’ll get players. They need a COACH

 

[Millerton]

Coach of the year candidate. Six weeks ago they were in last place in the PAC and after tonight are in 1st place and almost certainly heading to the tournament. I always try to be ahead of the curve on these things, but in no way did I see this coming this season. Program looked to be heading downhill rapidly and I thought it would take him at least 2-3 years for him to get his type of guys playing his style. Great job.

Will give Walton a little credit also tonight. When it was being discussed how mightily UCLA struggled early the other announcer brought up losses to Fullerton and Hofstra and Walton immediately replied “Hofstra is a good team”. I always bash his attention span to what’s going on, but was impressed that he was aware Hofstra is solid this year.

While I’m giving credit to coaches that are relatively new to to their schools will mention Danny Hurley at UConn and TJ Otzelberger at UNLV also. Both have their teams playing their best basketball at the right time and may be worth a look in the upcoming conference tournaments.

 

[Millerton]

Walton entertains me. I like him. So off the wall.

 

[TheLogicalTake]

I don’t remember Cronin getting huge praise here from the board. I do remember lots of talk about thug players and that kind of stuff.
the dude can coach. I’d rather have seen Cronin as a final candidate than Hurley.

Both guys are great coaches. We probably had less of a shot with Mick than Hurley, unfortunately. He was only leaving Cincy for a top end job and we had to pivot to a guy who was going to say yes after missing on Hurley.

 

[Atch]

I’ve talked up Mick many times on this board, mainly to jeers. He should have been our coach after JD.

Was he a candidate? Did he want the job?

 

[Pittparade]

Was he a candidate? Did he want the job?

Apparently no and no.

I always thought his teams at Cincinnati were very similar to Dixon's teams at Pittsburgh: scrappy, defensive minded and not aesthetically pleasing to watch on offense.

Is that what was wanted? Needed?

Pitt had enough coaching with Dixon. But the recruiting efforts/success had been fading fast.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Both guys are great coaches. We probably had less of a shot with Mick than Hurley, unfortunately. He was only leaving Cincy for a top end job and we had to pivot to a guy who was going to say yes after missing on Hurley.

He accepted the UNLV job.

 

[TheLogicalTake]

He accepted the UNLV job.

That was a leverage move. He had no intention of actually taking that. If Cincy was in a better conference, I honestly don’t believe he would’ve ever left. The AAC is a grind for recruiting and for travel.

 

[BFo8]

He accepted the UNLV job.

He did not, that was Beard who took the UNLV job.

Cronin flirted with it multiple times, but basically just used UNLV to get more money out of Cincinnati.

 

[FireballZ]

Was he a candidate? Did he want the job?

Probably would have had to overpay a bit. I'd like to think the lure of moving back into a Power 5 conference would be appealing, especially to a program he knew very well and witnessed first hand what the fan support could look like when successful, in a city that appreciated and was accustomed to the gritty style that his teams typically play defensively.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

. When it was being discussed how mightily UCLA struggled early the other announcer brought up losses to Fullerton and Hofstra and Walton immediately replied “Hofstra is a good team”. I always bash his attention span to what’s going on, but was impressed that he was aware Hofstra is solid this year.

Two things. Does Walton think Hofstra is a good team because he knows how good Hofstra is, or does he think that simply because they beat UCLA they must be a good team?

Secondly, Hofstra has losses to team like San Jose State, Bucknell, San Diego (not San Diego State, San Diego), William and Mary and Delaware, among others. Other than their win against UCLA there really isn't much evidence that they actually ARE a good team. Their second best win is probably against either Northeastern or Princeton.

I mean they don't stink. They won the CAA regular season championship, but they certainly didn't dominate the league. And it's not like this is a great year for the CAA.

 

[BFo8]

Two things. Does Walton think Hofstra is a good team because he knows how good Hofstra is, or does he think that simply because they beat UCLA they must be a good team?

Secondly, Hofstra has losses to team like San Jose State, Bucknell, San Diego (not San Diego State, San Diego), William and Mary and Delaware, among others. Other than their win against UCLA there really isn't much evidence that they actually ARE a good team. Their second best win is probably against either Northeastern or Princeton.

I mean they don't stink. They won the CAA regular season championship, but they certainly didn't dominate the league. And it's not like this is a great year for the CAA.

100% agree about the Colonial being down this year.

My comment was more one of surprise that Walton had a clue about Hofstra and what had happened to them after they played UCLA. Maybe he was simply looking at UCLA’s overall record in an attempt to gauge their worthiness for a bid, even so that requires more effort than I thought him capable of at this point.

In the end I prefer William & Mary over Hofstra to win the conference tournament.

 

[BuffetParrothead]

Was he a candidate? Did he want the job?

No and no.

 

[TIGER-PAUL]

Jamie wanted the job. Sean Miller, wow. Coming apart at the seams.

 

[Black Panther]

Apparently no and no.

I always thought his teams at Cincinnati were very similar to Dixon's teams at Pittsburgh: scrappy, defensive minded and not aesthetically pleasing to watch on offense.

Is that what was wanted? Needed?

Pitt had enough coaching with Dixon. But the recruiting efforts/success had been fading fast.

No and no.

Shouldnt one no be enough?if he wasn’t a candidate it’s hard for him to say no.

 

[BuffetParrothead]

Shouldnt one no be enough?if he wasn’t a candidate it’s hard for him to say no.

The post contained two Different questions:
Was he a candidate?
No

Did he want the job?
No

Two answers were required.
Little Mic could have wanted the job but he wasn't a candidate.

 

[BballinsiderfromPitt]

He accepted the UNLV job.

I’m actually surprised he didn’t jump at the UNLV job. Little known fact: Mick Cronin = degenerate!!!