UCLA has signed men’s basketball head coach Mick Cronin to a new six-year contract through the 2027-28 season, it was announced today by Martin Jarmond, the Alice and Nahum Lainer Family Director of Athletics. Cronin was named The Michael Price Family UCLA Men’s Head Basketball Coach on April 9, 2019.
Through three seasons as the Bruins’ head coach, Cronin has compiled a 66-29 record and has led this season’s team to the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row. Last season, he helped UCLA advance to the Final Four for the first time since 2008.
“Mick Cronin is one of the best coaches in the country, and this deal signifies our commitment to keeping him at UCLA and competing for national championships,” Jarmond said. “Mick is the right leader for our program because he knows what it means to represent the four letters, he won’t settle for less than being an elite program, and he wins with integrity. He has done a tremendous job of developing young men, and his players respect him.”
UCLA has gone 25-7 this season, advancing to the NCAA Tournament as the No. 4 seed in the East Region. The Bruins finished second in the Pac-12 Conference standings with a 15-5 record. Cronin is one of just four active head coaches to have led his teams to the last 11 consecutive NCAA Tournaments (including this season). He joins Gonzaga’s Mark Few, Michigan State’s Tom Izzo and Kansas’ Bill Self in that category.
“I believe we have created a culture of success and competitive greatness at UCLA,” Cronin said. “I am totally committed to seeing this process through with the goal of becoming national champions and one of the elite programs in college basketball. I’m grateful for the commitment from UCLA, and in particular to Chancellor Block and Martin Jarmond as they trust me to continue leading this program forward. I look forward to working with all of our constituents as we lead UCLA in this evolving landscape of collegiate sports. We have the best of so many resources and opportunities at UCLA, and it’s my desire to have the best basketball program as well. To our fans and all our students, please know how much I deeply appreciate your support. You have made my last three years so special, and you motivate me to work harder for you every day. Go Bruins.”
Cronin was hired as UCLA’s head coach on April 9, 2019, and guided the Bruins’ to back-to-back 20-plus-win seasons in 2020-21 and 2021-22. Last season, he helped the Bruins engineer a five-game winning streak in the NCAA Tournament, propelling UCLA to the Final Four. The Bruins recorded a No. 7 final ranking in last season’s Ferris Mowers Coaches Poll, powered by USA Today Sports, marking the program’s best such finish since a No. 4 ranking in 2007-08.
Cronin has totaled more career victories (431) than any other NCAA Division I head coach, age 50 or younger. Over the previous 12 seasons, including his final nine seasons as Cincinnati’s head coach, Cronin has averaged 25.1 victories per year. His teams have gone 126-39 in conference games over the past nine years.
This season, Cronin has helped the Bruins lead the Pac-12 in scoring defense (64.8 ppg) and the fewest turnovers per game (9.2). Led by two-time first-team All-Pac-12 guard Tyger Campbell, UCLA has ranked among the top 10 in the nation all season in assist-turnover ratio. Campbell, along with Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Johnny Juzang, were honored as first-team All-Pac-12 selections at the conclusion of the regular season.
One year ago, Cronin helped UCLA facilitate a balanced scoring attack with at least six players who averaged at least 10 points per game. The Bruins ranked No. 13, nationally, in fewest turnovers per game (10.6) and went 13-4 in games that were decided by five points or fewer (including contests that advanced into overtime).
In 2019-20, the Burins finished the season with 11 wins in their final 14 games before the COVID-19 pandemic prompted cancellations of the Pac-12 Tournament and the NCAA Tournament. UCLA went 12-6 in Pac-12 play during Cronin’s first season at UCLA. The Bruins finished second in the Pac-12 standings.
UCLA’s Coach Cronin Signs New Six-Year Contract
