(01-25-2022 09:10 PM)BearcatJerry Wrote: (01-25-2022 07:38 PM)GoldenWarrior11 Wrote: Unfortunate to see, but Mack simply failed to meet Louisville expectations. Mack could have stayed at Xavier for the rest of his career, but elite coaches are obsessed with success and always getting better. Mack felt that he reached a ceiling at Xavier, and took a top-10 job at Louisville (which happens to be near Cincinnati, his hometown).
Will be interesting too see where Louisville goes from here. Cronin should be one of their first calls IMO.
I am curious to see if this firing will be for cause. That Gaudio situation was peculiar.
Wait, wha????
Cronin is now established at UCLA.
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Think about that for a minute. UCLA. THE UCLA. You know...the one out at Westwood, CA. John Wooden. That UCLA.
He took them to the Final Four last season.
Luh'ville can "call" him all they want. I don't see him answering that call.
UCLA is a big deal to UCLA alums and people over 60, but not to anyone else.
Their arena is decidedly average (I saw a game there a few years after the 2012 renovation, and I was very disappointed after all the hype).
For years, they've coasted on their success under Wooden and have failed to invest in their facilities. I read one article a few years back claiming that they don't even have top-10 facilities among college basketball programs in California.
Since John Wooden left in 1975 (when Cronin was 4 years old), UCLA has won one national title.
Since 2000, they've finished the season ranked only 7 times. They've had more seasons with losing records (4) than conference tournament championships (3). That makes them similar to Tennessee or Marquette or Florida State (solid programs, but clearly behind schools like Wisconsin or Florida and not even close to Duke/UNC/UK/KU)
Even as the PAC-12 has slid dangerously far behind the other power conferences in the past decade, UCLA is no longer even the top program in the PAC-12 (that title clearly belongs to Arizona).
I'm not saying they're a bad program (they're not!). Just that they're more like top 20 or 25ish rather than top-5 like they think they are (and for the record, top-20ish makes them a step up from my team, Cincinnati).