In Reply to: Concerns about a "big" posted by Cachorro on May 05, 2026 at 10:58:47
you may well be right, Cachorro, but there is another huge (no pun intended) factor exists and Cronin's priorities are nuanced I think. He clearly requires mobility and flexibility in his posts. They have to be able to hedge and get back effectively. The other factor is money. With uncontrolled massive inflation in price of bigs especially and everyone in general, UCLA appears to have the funds to land one elite and another one or maybe (big maybe) higher level transfer or recruit. With the elevated costs of retaining the players you want to retain, there are real and serious limits on what you an actually do.
We've seen multiple reports of elite bigs going for up to $7 million and even just bench level bigs getting up to $2 million. To me that's crazy money. So you have to prioritize.
It appears Cronin made his decision to ride with Booker, expecting significant improvement his second year in the program. Who knows how that will play out but you have to make some decisions in building a roster in big time basketball and he'll just have to live with that one. Based on last year, I'm skeptical but Xavier did show significant improvement late in the season and I understand the problem, How we perform at center esp. defending the paint and rebounding is the likely primary determining point in how next season goes, I think.
I think how it turns out with Yessoufou may go a long way also toward determining our ceiling. We lack a dominant center and a clear high level wing. If Yessoufou stays in the draft or goes somewhere else, that really hurts. If he's possible, we have to hold our remaining money to bring him in - there will certainly be lots of competition.
I think his final four team made a huge impression on Cronin and that one rode a very mobile center who lacked terrific size. The last Jaquez team had super talent plus a great defensive wing and a super strong and athletic center but both those two were injured (and I doubt Mick and most of us have yet to fully recover from the disappointment).