Last night against what appeared to be a pretty good Tennessee team in front of a sellout crowd of over 21,000 in Knoxville, Cameron Boozer, the Duke 6'9" true freshman, scored 24 points, gathered 23 rebounds, dished off 6 assists, and had 2 blocks in 38:30 minutes of play. Although strong Cameron's body still looks like a teenager's. Once he starts to fill out into a mature body and gathering more strength I believe his ceiling will increase. Baring unforeseen circumstances I don't see him returning to Durham next season. After just two exhibition games where he averaged 28.5 points, 17.5 rebounds, and 5 assists it appears that Boozer's potential is really just up to him and how good he is determined to be.
Maybe this isn't fair, but I have to wonder if by some miracle Boozer had chosen to come to UCLA would he have had similar results under Cronin's system? I think Cronin is a very good coach and makes every player who plays for him a much better basketball player. Having said that I often think he is too wedded to his system and would benefit by being more flexible and open to other possibilities.
I think Cronin is doing a good job and he may indeed bring another championship to UCLA - I think he has shown that ability during his tenure at UCLA. For the time being I think Cronin is secure at the helm and I'm happy with how the program is progressing. But on the other hand it would be nice to see some of these truly impactful freshmen players come in and elevate the Bruins like a Boozer has. IMO, if Cronin were that type of coach Aday Mara might still be wearing a Bruin uniform or maybe not. No one can tell what goes on in a teenager's head. Maybe Mara's departure was inevitable, but I still think he can be a transformative player. I thought he was progressing in that direction, but maybe with Cronin giving way to more of Mara's potential strengths Mara would have felt the same and stayed. Or maybe none of what happened had anything to do with any of this. Still it would be nice if Mara was still a Bruin and someone like Christian Collins was coming in.