Goodbye to the Pac-12 and UCLA Basketball
Darrick Martin (UCLA ’92) is a retired professional basketball player and coach. He played point guard for UCLA from 1988–1992.
The UCLA basketball that we all love, the one that I grew up watching and later had the honor of being a part of, will effectively be no more once the school’s ill-advised move to the Big-10 Conference is complete.
The move feels like the storied UCLA basketball legacy is being sacrificed just for the school to have a chance at getting a piece of the money generated by the Big-10 football schools. But this exodus means that the days of UCLA being the gold standard for west coast basketball will be a thing of the past. We’ll say goodbye to witnessing some of the most athletic players in the country donning UCLA uniforms to press on defense, create turnovers, get out into transition, play fast, and run while treating us to breathtaking finishes.
Now in some cases the UCLA student athletes will have to travel 3,000 miles to play a game and then will be asked to do well in the classroom. Which will be a daunting task to say the least. I hope there are exceptionally good resources in place to help the student athletes who give their all to continually pour into the school’s coffers.
I wanted to play for and graduate from UCLA since I was five years old. I would stay up late to watch the tape of the games at 11:00pm. If I were growing up now, UCLA would not be that school for me at all unfortunately. Playing in the Big-10 would not have been attractive at all. All the great talent from the mid 1980’s to late 1990’s that came through the UCLA men’s basketball program I bet would feel the same way too.
Honestly though, it feels like the program has been in steep decline for the past 12 years at least, so maybe this move aligns with the direction men’s basketball has been headed. The excitement about and around UCLA basketball has diminished, and much of the reason for this lies in the carousel of coaches that have all been the wrong choices to carry the mantle in the house that Coach Wooden built.
Don’t get me wrong, I have no problem acknowledging the recent successes under the current coaching staff. But on the whole, the program has meandered under the weight of coaches who either had no understanding of UCLA’s rich basketball culture, or just chose to completely disregard it in favor of forcing the team into a flat-out boring style of basketball. Coaches who have had some success coaching at mid-major schools in other parts of the country, using a grind out style, with 3-and 4-star players and maybe an occasional 5-star player. Many of these coaches likely never played at an elite-level college or the professional level, yet they managed to become a decent coach and get noticed by watching endless hours of video and reading coaching books.
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But anyone who has played at an elite level and later went into coaching knows that’s not the way to get the best out of your players. Think about it, what high-level kid wants to get snatched out of the game 40 seconds into it? Or even want to play for a coach or staff who has no personal experience playing at the pro level?
Which is why Peyton Watson left early before his skill set diminished. He left after only playing 12 mins a game, but still got picked in the first round of the NBA Draft based on his potential, not because of how he was developed under the current coach. Now Peyton has turned into a very solid contributor for the Denver Nuggets.
Ok, now let’s talk recruiting. Why does UCLA men’s basketball keep missing out on top US recruits and is forced to recruit abroad? Is it because no one on Mic Cronin staff including himself has the reputation of being able to develop players at a high level? Or is it because his style of coaching using words to communicate with his players and staff are so colorful that even Bobby Knight would cringe? It’s certainly not a style that is familiar to the UCLA basketball community.
I never thought I’d see the day where USC would out recruit UCLA men’s basketball and play a style of basketball that is more exciting and attractive to elite homegrown recruits. We (UCLA) would attract elite players, play an exciting style of basketball, win at a high level, and then send players to the NBA. Those days are gone under the current regime. Gone are the days of 2–2–1 pressing after a made or missed basket. No more playing fast, pushing the ball up the floor with pace after a made or missed basket. No more lob passes for dunks exciting the Pauley Pavilion crowd. No more high scoring games in the 70- or 80-point range. These are not things that the current coach is known for coming from a Midwest, mid-level program. So, as we start the transition of moving to the Big 10, gone is UCLA basketball’s true identity.
No one on the current coaching staff even has ties to UCLA, which is both laughable and sad. I’d love to see a coach that is a product of the old UCLA basketball tradition be given a shot, but too many have been passed over repeatedly. There is no lack of highly qualified candidates to choose from among the ranks of Bruin basketball alumni. To name a few — Rico Hines, Earl Watson, Cameron Dollar, Ryan “Moose” Bailey and Tyus Edney are more than qualified to at least be on staff at UCLA, and they know how to develop talent. All of them are great coaches who are products of the UCLA basketball tradition.
But it isn’t lost on me that UCLA hasn’t hired a Black coach since unceremoniously firing Walt Hazzard — the coach who recruited my blue-chip freshman class — more than 35 years ago. Though the UCLA community likes to say we are one of the leaders in creating change and a forward-thinking school, we have completely missed the boat when it comes to advancement in hiring a Black men’s basketball coach.
Again though, it all lines up with this regressive decision to move to the Big-10.
The current UCLA style of play, although it may win some games, doesn’t win in an exciting way that can attract a class full of 4-and 5-star players to want to play at UCLA. But maybe middle of the road, “just happy to be here” teams is all the school is hoping for as the newcomer to a conference that was never for them in the first place. Yet this bad decision to leave “home” is already a foregone conclusion, so I guess it’s goodbye PAC-12. Real UCLA fans like me will miss you.
