The Kentucky Wildcats have a head coach opening with John Calipari’s shocking decision to go to Arkansas. The coaching carousel has taken another wild turn, and suddenly UCLA Bruins head coach Mick Cronin is once again an option for a high-profile job.
Cronin was already linked as a Louisville candidate before they hired Pat Kelsey. Now Dan Wolken of USA Today mentioned Cronin as a candidate, albeit an unlikely one. Here’s what Wolken wrote about the UCLA coach potentially going to Kentucky:
Despite his ties to the area as a former coach at nearby Murray State and Cincinnati, the timing probably isn’t great. Cronin is coming off a rebuilding year at UCLA and would be a tough sell to the Kentucky fan base, despite a long track record of success including a Final Four appearance in 2021.
There are plenty of names that have popped up, and Wolken isn’t the only one to mention Cronin as a candidate, either. Other names Wolken linked are Baylor’s Scott Drew, Auburn’s Bruce Pearl, and Arizona’s Tommy Lloyd, among others.