On Wednesday evening, UCLA Bruins head coach Mick Cronin appeared on AM 570 LA Sports Radio following UCLA’s second round exit in the NCAA tournament this past weekend to UConn.
Following the season-ending loss, Cronin said in his postgame press conference that he’d appreciate $5 million more in NIL funding to help put together a more complete UCLA lineup. On Wednesday, Cronin added a bit of context to that quote.
“Some people have 5 million more. That’s why I mentioned it, in particular the team we lost to,” Cronin said. “That wasn’t a coincidence or a number that I grabbed out of the air.”
Most UCLA fans should agree with Cronin’s sentiment. UCLA is an elite college basketball program and their budget for their roster should reflect that. However, it’s fair to question if Cronin has been allocating his NIL budget effectively.
UCLA’s marquee addition last year, Donovan Dent, was a very solid guard for the Bruins but wasn’t consistently the star that UCLA thought they were adding. Dent’s inconsistencies, along with others on the Bruins, led to another frustrating season in Westwood.
Cronin’s certainly not just sitting on his hands waiting for the portal to open, as he’s been in discussions with the representatives for his current team, with Eric Dailey Jr, Xavier Booker and potentially Skyy Clark all having more eligibility remaining.
“Seems like 2 weeks ago,” Cronin said of the loss to UConn. “Because I haven’t hung up the phone because everybody on my team’s a free agent. Doing player meetings and dealing with agents. You know, I feel like Andrew Friedman.”
We’ll see what Cronin and the Bruins can cook up this offseason and if he’ll have a larger budget to work with.
This article originally appeared on UCLA Wire: ‘Some people have 5 million more’ Mick Cronin backs up his NIL comment
Reporting by Dylan McNeill, UCLA Wire / UCLA Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
