mick cronin

Earlier, he served as associate head coach at the University of Louisville under Rick Pitino from 2001 to 2003, contributing to two postseason appearances. He started his collegiate coaching career as a video coordinator at the University of Cincinnati in 1996, advancing to assistant coach in 1997, where he was instrumental in recruiting top talent, including future NBA draft selections. In 2006, Cronin returned to the University of Cincinnati as head coach, where he revitalized the program over 13 seasons. He steered the Bearcats to two American Athletic Conference regular-season titles (2014, 2018) and two AAC Tournament titles (2018, 2019). His success at Cincinnati earned him the AAC Coach of the Year award in 2014 and the prestigious Sporting News National Coach of the Year recognition in 2018. Cronin’s impactful tenure led to his appointment as The Michael Price Family UCLA Men’s Head Basketball Coach in 2019. During this period, he also secured a Pac-12 regular-season title in 2023 and was twice honored as Pac-12 Coach of the Year in both 2020 and 2023. Continuing his track record of consistent achievement, Cronin reached his 500th career coaching victory in February 2025.