LOS ANGELES — The UCLA men’s basketball team is coming off its first losing season since 2016, the first under head coach Mick Cronin, who’s now in his sixth season at the helm. UCLA finished fifth in the last season of the Pac-12 and is one of four teams — Oregon, Washington, and USC, the others — that moved to the Big Ten.
Coming into this season, they’ve restocked, adding six notable transfers and two four-star freshmen, while retaining five key contributors.
Backcourt
The backcourt is the Bruins’ deepest unit and Cronin expects that depth will allow them to apply constant defensive pressure. They added transfers Skyy Clark (from Louisville) and Dominick Harris (Loyola Marymount) and freshmen Trent Perry and Eric Freeny to complement returners Dylan Andrews and Sebastian Mack.
Andrews, now a junior, led the team in points (12.9 per game) and assists (3.7) last season. He remains the Bruins’ primary ball handler, but won’t be needed to play 35-plus minutes nightly. Mack started 30 games as a freshman and has a knack for getting into the lane.
Clark and Harris are originally from Southern California and can each score at a high level.
Perry, a four-star recruit out of Harvard-Westlake, was originally committed to USC, but altered course after former Trojans head coach Andy Enfield left for SMU. He offers the Bruins another facilitator. Freeny, a four-star recruit out of Centennial High School in Corona, has a strong frame and rebounds well for a guard.
Wings
Lazar Stefanovic and Brandon Williams, UCLA’s returners on the wing, will cede playing time to transfers Kobe Johnson (USC) and Eric Dailey Jr. (Oklahoma State).
Johnson is an underrated passer and a lockdown defender. He averaged 2.2 steals per game during his sophomore and junior seasons at USC. When he and Dailey share the court, the Bruins will be a tough team to score on.
“He’s a long wing who gets after it,” Johnson said about Dailey. “That definitely helps me on defense, knowing that I got other people out there as hungry as I am.”
Dailey can play as a small-ball center, but Cronin would prefer not to use him in that way. Offense — shooting, specifically — will determine the height of his ceiling.
Williams started 14 games last season, while Stefanovic started all 33. Coming off the bench won’t change his demeanor.
“Team guy, all he cares about is winning,” Cronin said about Stefanovic.
Frontcourt
The Bruins added transfers Tyler Bilodeau (Oregon State) and William Kyle III (South Dakota State) and retained 7-foot-3 sophomore Aday Mara. A sturdy set of big men is crucial for the Bruins as the Big Ten is heralded for its physicality.
Bilodeau, a natural floor-spacer, doubled his scoring output from his freshman to sophomore season at OSU.
“He’s one of the best scorers I’ve ever guarded,” Kyle said.
Those battles are positive for both as Kyle was the Defensive Player of the Year in the Summit League. The Big Ten, though, is a completely different animal and Kyle’s acclimation will be a storyline.
Mara appeared in 28 games for the Bruins last season and was rehabbing an ankle injury throughout the offseason.
UCLA opens the season ranked inside the AP Top 25 and will host Rider on Monday, November 4 at 7:30 p.m.
