UCLA Men's Basketball Previews Critical Season at Pac-12 Media Day

The Bruins' latest season hasn't even started yet, and Mick Cronin is already dreading its end.

“Senior night is going to be tough,” the coach said to Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times.

UCLA men's basketball enters the 2022-2023 campaign as the favorite in the Pac-12 once again, thanks in large part to guard/forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. and point guard Tyger Campbell returning to Westwood this offseason. The two have already made 97 and 96 career appearances, respectively, putting them within striking distance of the school's all-time top-10.

Having both made the All-Pac-12 First Team in 2022, Jaquez and Campbell had already asserted themselves among the top players in the West, and they could have turned pro alongside Johnny Juzang, Jules Bernard and Peyton Watson.

Instead, the pair of upperclassmen were back at Pac-12 Men's Basketball Media Day on Wednesday, making the rounds alongside Cronin to preview the road ahead.

"We had talked about in the offseason what our decision was going to be – he had opportunities, I had opportunities," Jaquez said. "Ultimately, we came to the decision that we were going to come back and try to hang banner No. 12 at Pauley Pavilion. We talked about it, and I think we both had a good understanding of what we're trying to accomplish.”

Jaquez and Campbell were named to the preseason All-Pac-12 First Team on Monday, and they were also added to the preseason watch lists for the Julius Erving and Bob Cousy Awards, respectively.

When they do eventually turn pro, Jaquez and Campbell will be the highest-profile pair of four-year players to leave UCLA in tandem since Ed O'Bannon and Tyus Edney, right after they guided the Bruins to a national championship in 1995.

Just because they are back on campus for another swing at a title run doesn't mean they will be filling their same old roles, though, which Cronin made clear when talking about Campbell's spot in the backcourt. The 5-foot-11 floor general has long challenged for the best assist-to-turnover ratio in the country as a pure point guard, but he improved his 3-point percentage from 25.9% as an underclassman to 41.0% on 3.7 attempts per game as a junior.

Cronin said that, along with adjusting to playing off-ball while freshmen Amari Bailey and Dylan Andrews get time at point, he is pushing Campbell to take the next step as both a scorer and a shooter.

"I want him in Steph Curry mode," Cronin said. "He's become such an elite shooter that, for us to win, he needs to be hunting shots."

After Campbell told a reporter he would do whatever his coach asked him, Cronin butted in to say he wants 30 points per game from the point guard.

Jaquez is back to full strength after offseason ankle surgery, which should help ease the perimeter shooting struggles, inconsistency and lack of a bounce that restricted him at times last season. Jaquez averaged 18.7 points, 7.0 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game in on .521/.333/.869 shooting splits in the 10 games leading up to the Bruins' exit in the Sweet 16 last March, all figures that would likely make him an All-American should he extend that production over the course of a full, healthy season.

While Cronin was happy to label Jaquez and Campbell as the two "horses" he was going to ride with this year, they aren't the only key contributors on the roster.

Guard David Singleton – a career 43.8% shooter from beyond the arc – is back for his fifth season in blue and gold, and he only needs to play 21 games to break UCLA's all-time record for appearances. Swiss Army guard Jaylen Clark is also poised to step into a bigger role, as are big men Kenny Nwuba and Mac Etienne, when the latter returns from his torn ACL.

Etienne, in terms of eligibility, is still a freshman, even though he has been on the roster for nearly two calendar years. Guard Will McClendon will also be a redshirt freshman, coming back from a torn ACL of his own.

The true freshmen, headlined by Bailey and five-star center Adem Bona, represent reinforcements, the likes of which Cronin has yet to receive since coming to Westwood in 2019. Alongside the two McDonald's All-Americans are Andrews, a four-star point guard, and Italian swingman Abramo Canka, who was playing professionally in Russia before arriving in the States.

There was outgoing talent – the aforementioned Juzang, Bernard and Watson, plus big men Cody Riley and Myles Johnson and sharpshooter Jake Kyman – so there will likely be kinks to work out as the year goes on.

But just because there may be growing pains doesn't mean this team doesn't have a high ceiling, according to Cronin, and per usual, he is going to expect results this season.

"We've been working hard, defensively, on getting those guys up to speed defensively and up to speed with how hard you've got to play and compete in college basketball to win," Cronin said. "Because they have the talent."

UCLA, USC's Big Ten move still looming large

The Jaquez-Campbell era isn't the only one about to end in Westwood, with much of Wednesday's media day centering around UCLA and USC's impending departure for the Big Ten.

Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff reiterated his opinion that UCLA Athletics would not see the financial boost it expects when it jumps ship in 2024, and that administration is off-base when it comes to gauging the interests of their fanbase, coaches and student-athletes. With his only hope of brining the Bruins back to the Pac-12 being an unlikely intervention from the University of California Board of Regents, though, Kliavkoff was left to continue peddling his talking points to the media in San Francisco and the limited number of people who were able to watch on Pac-12 Networks at home.

“I have yet to talk to anyone in the UCLA and USC community who’s in favor of the move,” Kliavkoff said. “We believe between the travel and the coaches’ salaries and some of the other expenses you incur when you join the Big Ten, the small delta in the media rights deal will be more than offset. We stand by those numbers.”

UCLA athletic director Martin Jarmond was also removed as the Pac-12's representative on the NCAA Tournament selection committee, but deputy commissioner Jamie Zaninovich said that was standard operating procedure due to a perceived conflict of interest.

Oregon coach Dana Altman was asked about the Los Angeles'schools leaving as well, and while he said he was disappointed, he then opted to throw shade towards two of the conference's biggest brands.

"Since I've been in the league, USC hasn't won the conference title or the tournament," Altman said. "UCLA maybe won one tournament, one league title. Arizona's been up there. We've won four conference titles. So our basketball league is going to survive."

What Altman neglected to mention was that the Bruins and Trojans have more conference wins than any other Pac-12 team since 2019, and that UCLA has made just as many Sweet 16s and Final Fours as Oregon since he took over in Eugene back in 2010.

Cronin, meanwhile, was less eager to talk about the move, respectfully shifting the focus back to his team this year.

"The AD, presidents, commissioners make those moves, so they can talk about it," Cronin said. "I think every media day should be about the players. I've got two great ones here with me and a bunch of other ones at home."

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