Mick Cronin attributes last year’s season-ending loss to his team failing to do the little things.
“I told our guys this game was going to be won by other things,” the UCLA men’s basketball coach said. “Who gets a ball when it comes off the rim, who’s strong with the ball, they screen better than we screen.”
But the Bruins’ nine-point loss to No. 2 seed Tennessee in the second round of the NCAA Tournament exposed a lot more than attention-to-detail deficiency.
The Volunteers proved that the Bruins were streaky shooters, and that their March Madness struggles stemmed from a lack of size, strength and firepower to match the nation’s top talent.
“At the end of the day last year, we weren’t big enough,” Cronin said. “When the rubber met the road against Michigan, against Tennessee in the second round, they were just too big and strong for us.”
Senior guard Donovan Dent dribbles the ball in his left hand while junior forward/center Xavier Booker guards him. (Aidan Sun/Assistant Photo editor)
To address the issues presented to him, Cronin turned to the transfer portal.
The seventh-year UCLA coach fortified the squad’s talent first, adding one of the top-ranked players in the country in guard Donovan Dent. The 2024-2025 Mountain West Player of the Year is one of six AP All-American selections to return to college, and he may propel the Bruins to new heights.
Dent averaged a team-high 20.4 points and 6.4 assists, while shooting 49% from the field and 40.9% from beyond the arc. The Riverside local will not only bring elite scoring to the Bruins’ roster, but Dent is also a proficient playmaker, which could service efficient production from the entire squad.
“He’s an All-League player for a reason,” said junior guard/forward Eric Dailey Jr. “He’s definitely showing us what he’s going to bring to the table this year for us. And honestly, it’s the same thing we have seen when we played against him. … We know what he can do, and we know why he’s here, and we know what we need him for.”
Dent has focused on improving his shooting during the offseason despite the relatively high clips he posted last year. Cronin said it was Dent’s lack of pure shooting at the time that prevented UCLA from recruiting him out of high school.
“I have just been shooting more confident,” Dent said. “I wouldn’t say I was a bad shooter last year, I shot 40%. He (Cronin) wants me to shoot at a higher volume and he preaches that to me like he knows I can get downhill. He knows I can make plays, he has been having me shoot the ball more and that’s what I have been doing.”
Cronin acquired fifth-year guard Jamar Brown from the University of Missouri-Kansas City, where he averaged a team-leading 17 points per game on a 40.2% 3-point clip last season, to address the team’s shooting struggles.
Brown should elevate the team’s efforts from beyond the arc after a 2024-2025 season, when just one Bruin shot at least 40%.
And when asked if the team’s shooting has improved, Cronin kept it simple.
“We shoot it way better, it’s not even close,” Cronin said.
The Bruins’ head honcho also brought in 6-foot-11 junior Xavier Booker to bolster the roster’s strength and size. The forward/center served as a wing for two seasons at Michigan State but has transitioned to the “five” in Westwood. Booker averaged just 4.7 points and 2.2 rebounds across 33 games last season, but played only 12.8 minutes a game.
Steven Jamerson II will join Booker in the frontcourt. The redshirt senior averaged 10 points and 7.8 boards per contest at San Diego last year. Cronin added that St. Mary’s coach Randy Bennett named Jamerson one of the most underrated players in the West Coast Conference last season.
“He can screen, he can defend, he can rebound and he’s got legitimate size as you saw – he’s every bit of 6-foot-10,” Cronin said.
Redshirt senior forward/center Steven Jamerson II holds the ball behind the 3-point line (left), and fifth-year guard Jamar Brown holds the ball near the top of the key while sophomore guard Trent Perry defends him (right). (Aidan Sun/Assistant Photo editor)
Most importantly, the Bruins sought players who did the little things.
Jamerson not only posted the second-most rebounds in the WCC, but he also finished among the top 20 in both blocks and steals per game. Booker – who is more of a skilled wing than a traditional center – is still learning how to assume the center position.
And Brown could also be one of the best rebounders on the team, leading his previous squad in boards with over seven per contest last season.
“It is very rare for a shooter to average seven rebounds a game,” Cronin said. “But, he’s a football player. He used to play, so intensity and toughness aren’t an issue, and his attitude is unbelievable.”
Complementing Brown’s mental toughness and resiliency are redshirt sophomore guard/forward Brandon Williams and redshirt freshman guard Eric Freeny. After playing in 32 games – and starting 14 – his freshman season, Williams opted to redshirt his sophomore year after an influx of transfers came to Westwood last season.
Similarly, Freeny – a four-star prospect out of high school – decided to redshirt his freshman season and return to UCLA despite an already packed backcourt.
Williams and Freeny’s continuous belief in themselves and UCLA may reflect the program that Cronin is trying to build – one that focuses on the little things.
Contributing reports from Aidan Sun, Assistant Photo editor.