Mick Cronin was the men’s basketball coach in Cincinnati for 13 years, which meant he held somewhere north of 1,500 practices. For all but a few, very few, his father, Hep, sat in a folding chair against the wall near the Bearcats’ base practice gym. This was the biggest reason for the job.
The courtesy car was good for Mick, as he was working in his alma mater and passing Oscar Robertson’s statue on a daily basis. But a chance for your father to sit on his practices? This was one of the biggest reasons that Cronin at one point gave him a long-term extension on the contract for the university. If he could live in his hometown and be with his father in the gym each day, he would not have needed much money and the opportunity to work at a sustainable power.
However, this proposal never came, and UCLA did. In April 2019, Bruce introduced him as head coach, replacing Steve Alford, to sit in the same chair where John Wooden claimed 10 NCAA championships. It was impossible to say no under those circumstances. And, hey, Hep could spend more outside the winter in the West if he wanted to.
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Then came the epidemic, and COVID-19 managed that neither of the 2,000 miles could be managed: it kept Cronin apart.
They saw each other Thursday night as the NCAA tournament opened. Happily for both of them, the Bruins were invited to compete and the event is being held in Indiana, most recently from the home of Interstate 74 in Cine.
The two saw each other for the first time in a year. And together – separated by a railing between Purdue’s McKee Arena and the stand on the basketball court – they celebrated UCLA’s 86-80 overtime win over Michigan State in the first four.
“It’s good to see him.” You know, he’s getting old, “Mick Cronin told reporters after the game. “I’m teasing. You know, I talk to her every day. And as I’m going to Sipuleved (Boulevard in Los Angeles), I call her and ask her what the weather is like in Cincinnati and her. Explain that the sun is already coming to the Santa Monica Mountains. I have to put on my sunglasses. So I play with them every day.
“I hadn’t seen my father since the Arizona State victory at the end of February last year. The COVID hit, he canceled his flight to Vegas (for the 2020 Pac-12 tournament), trying to stay safe Is, not traveling on an airplane….. So, talking to someone every day, it’s weird to see him. Last year, he’s been flying every month, spending a week with me. So that’s a lot it was good. “
This is the 10th consecutive NCAA tournament for Cronin, his first at UCLA. Many coaches don’t have long streaks: Kansas Bill Self, and Gonzaga’s Mark Few, and Tom Izzo, the inverted man in this affair.
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The Bruins advance to play Saturday against No. 6 seed BYU in the first round of the tournament, winning against Michigan State, 27 points ahead of Jamie Jakuz and 23 from shooting guard Johnny Jujang.
And that means one more thing for his coach.
Mick Cronin said, “Now I can see him again.”
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