Editor's Note: Dick Weiss, a member of the U.S. Basketball Writers Association Hall of Fame, has covered college sports in Philadelphia and New York for more than 40 years. He will be providing regular commentary for the American Athletic Conference during the 2014-15 season.
Though he won't be on the bench for the foreseeable future, Mick Cronin will still have his stamp on Cincinnati's men's basketball program.
by Dick Weiss
If you have a moment during this holiday season, think of Mick Cronin.
The 43-year old Cincinnati basketball coach, who has restored the Bearcats into a perennial NCAA tournament program over the last nine years and has coached his team four straight NCAA bids and an appearance in the Sweet 116 from 2011-2014, is one of the best young teaching coaches in the country.
But he disappeared from sidelines Dec. 22 after he was diagnosed with an unruptured aneurysm, that was detected when he underwent medical testing for previously unexplained headaches he had been experiencing. Cronin told ESPN he is not in any danger and neither is his coaching career. But doctors have asked him to take an indefinite leave of absence from coaching until they determine how to treat it.
Cronin is resting at home and undergoing tests to determine the extent of the aneurysm.
His situation shows just how quickly the dynamics of college coaching can change. UC, which tied for the American regular season title last year, was picked to finish fourth in the fifth in the wide open conference's pre-season poll and make another run at the tournament, even though the Bearcats had to replace three starters, including first team All-American guard Sean Kilpatrick and entered the season with limited offensive firepower.
Cronin coached the Bearcats to 7-2 start and defeated West Coast power San Diego State, 71-62, in overtime in Cincinnati in his last game before informing his players of his situation. .He has been replaced on the bench by associate head coach Larry Davis, who split two games, losing to VCU, 68-47, at Fifth-Third Arena before using a suffocating defense to subdue Wagner, 72-48, at home. The Bearcats (8-3) had 12 blocks and forced Wagner into 16 total turnovers. UC put four players in double-figures, led by sophomore guard Kevin Johnson's 11 points. Octavius Ellis, Shaquille Thomas and Quadri Moore all had 10 points each.
“I can't be wondering or waiting for him to come back. I've got to coach the team like I'm going to coach it the rest of the year," Davis said after the game. "If coach is able to come back, believe me, I'll happy to hand (over) the reins because he's my friend, he's a great young coach and this is his team. But, my mindset right now is I'm prepared to coach the team the rest of the year.”
Cronin has been texting the players on a regular basis, just to keep in touch.
"As we met in practice the other day - and this is directly from Mick's book - they have to hear your voice and they have to hear the staff's voice and our guys,' Davis said. "I have great guys around me, the whole staff - Darren (Savino) and Antwon (Jackson) and Mark Berger and all of those guys that are going to help us get through this. But I have tried to address the team and say `the best thing we can do for Coach Cronin is to go out and play with our heart and play with that great intensity that he wants us to play with.' That is how you help Mick. That is what you need to be thinking about .'
"I don't want to let Coach down, I want to go out there and play like he taught me to play.' We have to focus on that and getting better and doing the things we need to do. We can't get distracted by the situation, and it's hard not to. That is where our focus has to be, we have to go out there and do what Coach taught us to do. They need to listen to our staff right now and do the things that we are asking them to do. You have to make a decision, you aren't suggesting anymore. You are making the decision in practice and all the way down the line. You have to get in the mindset and be decisive in what you do."
I've known and respected Cronin since he was an assistant on Bob Huggins' staff at Cincinnati in 1998 and a regular on the New York city recruiting scene. He was considered a prodigy when he was an coach and head of the selection committee for Sonny Vaccaro's addidas ABDC camp at FDU in Hacksenhack, N.J. He was also on staff for four years at Howie Garfinkel's famed Five Star camps in the Poconos. Cronin established himself as an exceptional recruiter who helped the Bearcats sign NBA draft selections Steve Logan, DerMarr Johnson, Pete Mickeal, Kenny Satterfield and Jason Maxwell.
Cronin became the associate head coach and recruiting coordinator at Louisville under Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino, beginning in the 2001-2001. His first season, he helped the Cardinals recruit a Top 10 recruiting class. Two years later, Cronin got his first head coaching job at Murray State where he led the Racers to two NCAA tournaments and was named the Ohio Valley Conference coach of the Year.in 2006.
After the season, Cronin was hired as Cincinnati's head coach, replacing interim coach Andy Kennedy. Cronin had to pick up the pieces from a beaten down program after Huggins was asked to resign with no warning three months before the 2005 season. Kennedy stepped in for a season. But given the school having done little recruiting for nearly a year, Cronin was forced to scramble for reinforcements. He even convinced two players on the football team to play, including current NFL Philadelphia Eagles' linebacker Connor Barwin. Although Cronin's early UC teams struggled, he improved the program's win total each of his first five seasons.
Since the beginning of the 2010 season, he has amassed a 105-36 record through the first nine games of the 2014-15 season. Cronin pulled off his biggest coup when he signed Lance Stephenson from Lincoln High in Brooklyn, taking a chance on the controversial, but talented all-time leading scorer in New York state high school basketball history. Stephenson was named the big East Rookie of the Year before heading for the NBA, where he became a star with the Indiana Pacers before signing three year, $27 million dollar deal last summer to play for the Charlotte Bobcats.
Cronin has always been a student of the game. He grew up on the west side of Cincinnati and learned the game from his father Hep, a high school basketball coach coach with more than 400 career victories.who also scouted for the Atlanta Braves. Cronin was a 5-7 guard who played for his dad at La Salle High and was selected all city after leading the city in assists and finishing second in shooting percentage during the 1989 season before a knee injury at the end of his junior year ended his playing career.
As a student at University of Cincinnati, he accompanied his dad on a scouting assignment at Woodward High and was offered a job coaching the freshman team and assisting with the varsity for then Woodward coach Jim Leon. Cronin eventually moved up to varsity assistant for five years when Woodward won three city titles and produced six Division I players, including Louisville guard Eric Johnson and Cincinnati guard Damon Flint.
The time he spent with Huggins and Pitino was a huge added bonus, increasing his sophisticated knowledge of the game.
Cronin and his Bearcats have always had a reputation for being battlers. Cronin has worked too hard to get to where he is today to give that up. I suspect he'll eventually make it back to his courtside seat.