UCLA head coach Mick Cronin said Friday he apologized to Bruins forward Steven Jamerson II while acknowledging his behavior during and after a game at Michigan State last weekend brought negative attention to the storied basketball program.
Cronin sent Jamerson to the locker room late in an 82-59 blowout loss to Michigan State after his player committed a hard foul on a fast break. Officials ruled the foul a Flagrant 1 and not a Flagrant 2, which would have required an ejection.
After the game, Cronin took exception to a question about the Michigan State student section, calling the person asking the question “dude,” and accusing him of raising his voice.
Jamerson attended Michigan State out of high school but was not allowed to walk-on to the program as a player and his attempt to serve as the team’s student manager was denied. Jamerson was able to walk on at San Diego and his play on defense allowed him to transfer to UCLA, where he plays in a backup role.
“I apologized to Steve,” Cronin said, while admitting he watched the replay of the play in question and realized he overreacted. “It gives me a chance to tell you guys what a great guy Steve is. … Look, Steve is everything that is good about college basketball.”
Cronin’s four-minute attempt at self awareness was bogged down with a story of how Jamerson ended up in a commercial for a credit monitoring company.
Cronin also said the UCLA “brand” deserves better respect while offering to “dial back some of my humor.” He promptly went into an anecdote about growing facial hair so he doesn’t “look like Mr. Clean.”
Cronin, 54, has parlayed a fiery style and a focus on defense into a 23-year Division I head coaching career first at Murray State then at Cincinnati in his hometown before moving to UCLA in 2019.
“I’m a good fit here because I know I’m not bigger than the brand,” said Cronin, who is 155-73 in his seven seasons at UCLA.
He guided the program into the Final Four in 2021 and into the Big Ten Conference from the Pac-12 last season.
“The brand matters here. The school matters,” Cronin said. “The last thing I want to do is bring negative publicity to our school.”
Cronin extended his apology to the “school, students, everybody in our community.”
The Bruins are 17-9 and 9-6 in Big Ten play, while in danger of missing out on the NCAA Tournament. UCLA plays host to No. 10 Illinois on Saturday and has two games remaining against rival Southern California, in addition to a visit from No. 9 Nebraska still on the schedule.
