Pac-12 Men's Basketball Media Day: UCLA Already in Late-Season Form

Every player who played a minute in March Madness is back for the Bruins, who start their season on Nov. 9.

There's no need for the Bruins to start from square one this season.

"The advantages of having a veteran team is your starting point is a little further down the line," said coach Mick Cronin. "Hopefully, your end point is further down the line as well. You can get further, meaning you can become a better team, because you're not starting so far back."

Cronin, guard Johnny Juzang and guard/forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. were at Pac-12 Men's Basketball Media Day in San Francisco representing UCLA on Wednesday, talking to the press about the upcoming 2021-2022 season. Looking at the Bruins' roster, it looks strikingly similar to the one that marched all the way from the First Four to the Final Four in last year's NCAA tournament.

Stars Juzang and Jaquez? Check.

Veteran pure point guard Tyger Campbell? Present.

Starting post presence Cody Riley? Here.

Role players Jules Bernard, David Singleton, Jake Kyman, Jaylen Clark, Mac Etienne and Kenneth Nwuba? All back.

Even walk-ons Russell Stong and Logan Cremonesi are returning.

The only two departures – guard Chris Smith and forward/center Jalen Hill – missed most of last season anyways, with the former tearing his ACL in December and the latter stepping away from the team a month later before eventually retiring. Neither one of them played for UCLA during their surprise tournament run, meaning essentially the same crew has returned to Westwood to run it back.

The unprecedented amount of continuity led assistant coach Rod Palmer to tell the Los Angeles Times' Ben Bolch that Cronin was already in late-season form, in terms of how he's running practices.

"(Cronin) gets on us, for sure, but it's all in good faith," Jaquez said. "He's trying to make each and every one of us better. Some of the things he gets upset about, it's understanding we're young, we make dumb mistakes, he makes sure to get on us about it. But it's all out of love."

With freshman guard Will McClendon tearing his ACL back in September and incoming Rutgers transfer big man Myles Johnson already having three years of Big Ten basketball under his belt, the only true newbie in the rotation is going to be guard/forward Peyton Watson.

Watson was a McDonald's All-American this past year and comes in as the Bruins' first five-star recruit since Moses Brown in 2018. Having most of his high school career called off due to COVID-19 complicated things though, Cronin said, and he said the whole team is going to have to work hard to get him acclimated to the collegiate environment.

"I have to remind myself and my assistants, 'You gotta help him,'" Cronin said. "We're at warp speed with everybody else because these guys have played together, they've played for us."

The last puzzle piece to fall into place this past offseason was Juzang's return, which seemed up in the air considering he was biding his time in the NBA Draft pool until the last possible moment.

Juzang's eventual decision to return to college in early July came from a place of trust in the system Cronin has brought to Westwood, he said Wednesday.

"I wanna feel ready to make an impact and contribute to a team, and I don't think there's a better place to get ready to do that than playing for coach Cronin and playing for the Bruins on this special team," Juzang said. "With what we have, it's gonna be a fun environment too."

A good chunk of Bruins will be entering their third year under Cronin, quite the departure from how they stood heading into last year.

UCLA had its first postseason with Cronin and the helm canceled, and the team missed the entirety of offseason workouts before reconvening just before the season started. Juzang, Clark and Etienne had hardly met Cronin, let along practiced under his watch for months on end, when they first took the court in 2020.

Continuity is on the Bruins' side this time around, and the system's roots are going deeper into the hardwood at Pauley Pavilion with every second that passes.

Follow Connon on Twitter at @SamConnon
Follow All Bruins on Twitter at @SI_AllBruins
Like All Bruins on Facebook at @SI.AllBruins
Subscribe to All Bruins on YouTube

Read more UCLA stories: UCLA Bruins on Sports Illustrated
Read more UCLA men's basketball stories: UCLA Men's Basketball on Sports Illustrated