Don’t Worry, Mick’s Got It Covered: How UCLA Basketball’s Major Roster Reconstruction Has Flipped the Script on 2023-24
By Jack Zinke | 3 Mar 2025
Last season was mighty grim for the Bruins as they finished with a sub-.500 record for just the third time since 2004. Their measly 16-17 record was not good enough to make an appearance in the 64-team March Madness bracket, a tournament that UCLA expects to take part in each and every year. The 23-24 squad didn’t see much success in their last ever Pac-12 tournament either, as they were eliminated by the 4th-seeded Oregon Ducks in the quarterfinals.
Going back to the end of the 2022-23 season, the Bruins would be losing many successful veteran players such as Jaime Jaquez Jr., Tyger Campbell, Jaylen Clark, and Amari Bailey. To combat this mass exodus of roster talent, Head Coach Mick Cronin decided to take chances on top-tier freshman recruits, many of which came to Westwood internationally. Cronin was virtually banking that at least one or two of the raw freshmen additions would break out, becoming an immediate contributor on the court. It was a risky move that could have potentially set up UCLA for the future or set them back for yet another season. UCLA ended up bringing in 7’ 3” Aday Mara from Spain, Turkish forward Berke Büyüktuncel, Ilane Fibleuil from France, Slovenian guard Jan Vide, and American standouts Brandon Williams, Devin Williams and Sebastian Mack. The Bruins also added transfer guard Lazar Stefanovic out of Utah. Surely, there would be at least one hit out of the plethora of UCLA’s young additions. Right? Unfortunately, the only freshman that was a somewhat meaningful contributor to the team that year was Sebastian Mack. Stefanovic and his collegiate experience also proved to be a valuable asset for the Bruins. Cronin’s plan to rely on freshmen did not exactly pan out.
Fortunately, a few holdovers from 2022-23 served as the lone bright spots that season: center Adem Bona and guard Dylan Andrews. Bona, a sophomore at the time, put up 12.4 PPG, 5.9 RPG, along with nearly 2 BPG. When he wasn’t in foul trouble, Bona’s presence was felt on the court as a versatile, athletic big man. Known primarily for his defense, Bona often was the star on the floor; however, sophomore guard Dylan Andrews lit a spark in the backcourt late in the season. Andrews shone the brightest in the two Pac-12 tournament games where he posted 31 points against Oregon State and 24 versus Oregon. Bruin fans were hopeful that Andrews’ late-season success would carry over into his 24-25 junior season, while at the same time they were saying prayers that their beloved Adem Bona would not declare for the NBA draft. The two-year center did just that and was eventually selected by the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2nd round. With the loss of Bona, the 2024-25 season would likely look eerily similar to the 2023-24 season without significant roster changes taking place.
UCLA’s Dylan Andrews helps lift the Bruins over Oregon State in the final Pac-12 Tournament.
Head Coach Mick Cronin has seen lots of success since taking over at UCLA, posting a career record of 197-135 in Westwood. Since his first year in 2019, Cronin has only had 1 losing season and that would be the dismal 2023-24 campaign. Knowing that things needed to change in Westwood, Cronin decided that the next roster-building strategy would be nearly the opposite of the one used the year before. Instead of going after raw, unknown freshmen talent, Cronin and his decision-making team would opt for experienced, veteran transfers to comprise the majority of the 2024-25 men’s basketball roster.
Many of last year’s freshmen experiments transferred out. Only Aday Mara, Sebastian Mack, Brandon Williams, and Devin Williams remained on the team as holdovers from last year’s first-year additions. Transfer Lazar Stefanovic also decided to remain in the blue and gold for another season after seeing significant playing time the year before.
In the offseason, Mick Cronin didn’t land a big star or household name from the transfer portal. Instead, Cronin was able to pocket a plethora of serviceable, experienced players from across the country who would serve as immediate and substantial contributors. Rather than creating a lineup that focuses around 1 or 2 star players, UCLA’s 2024-25 roster was built around depth. The roster would easily have 8-10 players who could be featured in any starting lineup. Cronin elaborated in a November 8 interview saying: “…it's a good problem to have. I view us right now is that we have at least eight starters, so I can pick and choose who I'm going to start, but during the game, they're all going to play.”
One of the biggest additions that UCLA made in the offseason was versatile junior forward Tyler Bilodeau from Oregon State. Bilodeau’s vast skill set allows him to play at a high level both on the perimeter and in the paint. While he was brought in predominantly to boost the offense, Bilodeau is also an exceptional defensive player. Thus far, Bilodeau is averaging 13.9 PPG, 4.4 RPG, and is shooting 50% from the field. That makes him UCLA’s leading scorer on the year.
The Bruins also bagged 6’ 8” sophomore Eric Dailey Jr. Listed as a guard, Dailey Jr. is no stranger to finding success down low either, as he really is the team’s swiss army knife. On February 23, Dailey Jr. had a huge game for UCLA against the Ohio State Buckeyes, tallying 20 points, 8 rebounds, and leading the Bruins to an in-conference victory. So far, Dailey has proven to be one of, if not the best offensive player in 2024-25 for UCLA.
Head Coach Mick Cronin approaches sophomore guard Eric Dailey Jr. on the Pauley Pavilion floor.
In the portal, senior Kobe Johnson left the crosstown rival USC Trojans for UCLA, making for a very shocking and controversial move. Johnson has been incredible defensively thus far, displayed by his average of nearly 2 steals as well as 6 rebounds per game. His defense on the perimeter is where he shines the brightest, while his experience and leadership have proved to be extremely valuable to the younger, developing players on the roster.
Skyy Clark, a junior guard, left Louisville for UCLA, bolstering the backcourt with his exceptional ball-handling skills. As a starting guard, Clark is limiting his turnovers to just one per game. His basketball IQ and the fluid ball movement that he creates allows for shots to open up on offense. Clark has proven to be an extraordinarily valuable asset on the court.
The Bruins also were able to recruit Dominick Harris and William Kyle III, who have not been able to contribute as much as they would have liked to at this point in the season. Both have shown to be promising players, but the depth that UCLA’s roster enjoys has come at their expense. Freshman guard Trent Perry has also seen very few minutes this season, but will certainly be a roster centerpiece for the Bruins going forward.
As for returning players, Lazar Stefanovic, Dylan Andrews, and Sebastian Mack have all experienced a step back from last season. This is largely due to having to share time with the veteran transfers that were brought in; but even so, they have not proven to be exceptional when they are given minutes. Dylan Andrews still gets lots of playing time as he is cemented in Cronin’s starting lineups, but has been unable to improve upon his sophomore season where he averaged nearly 13 PPG. This season, he has not improved much on his lackluster turnover rate and is averaging just 7.3 PPG. Meanwhile, Stefanovic is suffering due to a large decrease in minutes, struggling to even surpass an average of 5 PPG. Sebastian Mack will occasionally have a big game, but ultimately rarely finds himself in the starting lineup anymore. His averages have dipped to 2.2 less PPG and 1.6 less RPG than last season.
On the other hand, big man Aday Mara has blossomed into a solid rotational player in his sophomore season. On the floor, he is providing exceptional defense and respectable offensive contributions. Mara has become a much stronger player, using his 7’ 3” frame to his advantage and not getting pushed around as much as he did as a freshman. While his stats are not necessarily impressive at first glance, they do not tell the full story. He’s putting up 5.9 PPG, 3.8 RPG, and 1.5 BPG. His lack of big numbers is mostly due to the fact that he is getting minimal playing time as a result of the addition of Tyler Bilodeau, arguably UCLA’s best player. Mara is only getting 12.7 minutes of game time, hardly enough to put up a noteworthy statline. Yet, when Bilodeau was sidelined due to injury not too long ago, Mara got to show off his true potential. In the 2 games that Bilodeau missed and the game prior to his injury, Mara went for 22 points, 2 rebounds and 2 blocks vs. Wisconsin, 12 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 blocks @ Washington, and 12 points, 11 rebounds, 2 assists, and 5 blocks @ USC. This 3-game stretch proved that Mara has what it takes to step up into a big role when his name is called, serving as key depth to the Bruins’ bench.
7’ 3” Center Aday Mara recorded his career-high 22 points in a pivotal Big 10 win vs. Wisconsin.
The Bruins opened up the 2024-25 season on a roll, going 10-1 to start. That stretch included huge wins against rivals Oregon and Arizona. It became clear early on that there was not one standout in the UCLA lineup. Instead, everyone contributed in impactful ways. Some nights Bilodeau would be the leading scorer, while on others Sebastian Mack seemed to take over off the bench. UCLA was unpredictable out of the gate. Their staunch defense and team-first attitude propelled them to an early season AP ranking. Unfortunately, they dropped games to UNC, Nebraska, Maryland, and Rutgers in a span of 5 games. This skid dropped the Bruins out of the AP Top 25 rankings and morale had seemed to quickly diminish in the locker room.
Despite the grim outlook, Aday Mara’s emergence as a dependable asset in Bilodeau’s absence and Eric Dailey Jr.’s high-scoring stretch vs. Wisconsin, Washington, and USC propelled UCLA to a 7-game winning streak. The Bruins’ season was salvaged and they had put themselves in a prime position to compete for a top seed in the Big 10. In spite of their continued success, over their next 5 games, UCLA began to look flat yet again. Their stumble included dropping 3 crucial late-season games to Illinois, Minnesota, and Purdue. While their overall record sits at 21-9 and 12-7 in the conference, the Bruins need to build momentum in the iconic rivalry game vs. USC to close out the regular season. The Bruins are nearly a shoe-in to make the NCAA tournament with a decently high seed as well as a fair shot at winning the Big 10 Conference once the regular season concludes. Despite all this, a lot is riding on UCLA’s final game, where they can earn a much-needed morale boost before another playoff run.
Cronin and three of his new transfers: Tyler Bilodeau, Kobe Johnson, and Eric Dailey Jr.
Reflecting on how this 2024-25 season has unfolded thus far, it really is incredible to see how UCLA was able to turn things around so quickly from their ugly 2023-24 showing. Their risky move to completely revamp the roster ended up paying huge dividends as they are in legitimate contention for deep runs in the Big 10 and NCAA tournaments. Going from a team primarily composed of international freshmen to one made up of veteran transfers goes to show that Mick Cronin knows what he’s doing. With virtually the complete opposite philosophy on roster construction, Cronin’s squad will go from 16-17 to, at best, 22-9 this season as opposed to last. With few seniors on the team, it will be interesting to see how much of the roster will stay intact for 2025-26. If all goes well the rest of the way, it should be expected that the Bruins will look very similar next season, just with even more experience than before. Cronin and company took a gamble, and as of now, it looks to have paid off handsomely.
