Mick Cronin fumbled Aday Mara's tenure with the UCLA Bruins
Aday Mara starred all season long for the Michigan Wolverines en route to an NCAA title. Mara spent his first two seasons riding the bench for UCLA.
The Michigan Wolverines capturing the NCAA championship on Monday brought back a lot of feelings about how Mick Cronin valued center Aday Mara during his time with the UCLA Bruins . Mara joined the Bruins as a five-star recruit fresh from Spain. Even if Mara wasn’t polished, 7’3” centers don’t grow on trees and UCLA was lucky to have him.
Perhaps Cronin didn’t feel quite as lucky. Despite his skillset at the five, Mara never became a major contributor with the Bruins, and a lot of that was due to limited opportunity. During his two seasons in Westwood, Mara averaged just 11.
5 minutes per game. College Sports Wire writer Matt Zemek wrote about Cronin’s shortcomings when it came to helping turn Mara into a star at UCLA. “The Bruins got a No.
7 seed in the 2025 NCAA Tournament and then, without Mara, did no better in 2026,” Zemek wrote. “UCLA has become irrelevant in college basketball after its 2021 Final Four joyride as a No. 11 seed.