JasonS
Football Moderator
Time to give UC coach his due for turning lemons into lemonade.
On Nov.19, 2005, Mick Cronin and his Murray State Racers piled into a bus headed back home to Kentucky, after a 79-75 overtime loss at UC. As the bus crossed the Brent Spence Bridge, Cronin said to no one in particular, “It’s going to be a tough deal for the guy who gets that (UC) job."
This was Andy Kennedy’s winter in Clifton, Year 1 post-Huggs. As Cronin describes it, “They had all seniors, no recruits, fans were upset. They’d lost (Huggins). You’d have to be crazy to take that job."
“What about Kennedy?" someone wondered.
“He might not want it,’’ Cronin said.
You know the rest of the story. The job almost no one wanted was taken by the only guy who wanted it badly. You might think five years is a long time to resurrect a basketball program, and these days, maybe it is. As Cronin’s brother Dan said Sunday night, “Five years is an eternity in college basketball. Society doesn’t want to wait five years for anything."
A certain segment of the UC fan base certainly didn’t. Doesn’t. Won’t. This is more than a little strange, in a town that worships its own like no other. Mick Cronin went to LaSalle, he went to UC. He coached for Huggins, before committing the unpardonable sin of wanting to improve himself as a coach, by working for Rick Pitino.
He inherited a Dumpster fire of a program: One scholarship player, an APR score so awful, the Bearcats were in danger of losing scholarships if they didn’t bring it up quickly. Those who know what Cronin took on have no issues with his rate of progress.
Five years wasn’t a long time to return to the Madness. Five years was just about right. Anything earlier would have been remarkable; anything later would have been reason to grumble.
Consider some names of players who have started for Cronin in the best quasi-amateur basketball league in the land:
Adam Hrycaniuk, Jamual Warren, Steve Toyloy. Ron Allen. Marcus Sikes, Timmy Crowell. Nothing against these gentlemen. They came into a lousy situation and made it better. But, c’mon.
Dan Cronin said a Big East official said to him in Mick’s first season, “Mick’s bringing a dart gun to a gun fight."
By Year 3, Cronin had enough people who at least resembled Big East players to win eight conference games. Last year, the Bearcats were a team marginally on the bubble. Now, they have a No. 6 seed in the Madness and will play in Washington, D.C., against Missouri on Thursday.
Good enough?
The NCAA tournament is the litmus test for all Division I programs. It has risen to such prominence, it is the only litmus test. Unless you are an elite program, or one that perhaps thinks too highly of itself, taking part is a mark of achievement. UC rallied in February to dance off the bubble and into a decent seed.
The bashers might be disappointed. They need to give it a rest.
The Mickwagon ought to fill up. “He finally put his stamp on the program. He’s not looking over his shoulder now,’’ Dan Cronin said. Dan’s not objective, of course; neither is this column. I’ve wondered how long UC can afford to have a half-full gym – attendance was actually down this year, from last – but given what the Bearcats have achieved, the onus is off Cronin now, and on the fans.
“You almost feel like you climbed Mt.Kilimanjaro" was how Cronin put it. He said he understands the local ambivalence toward him. That’s hard to believe. Cronin keeps a tight circle of friends and family, and claims not to read, listen to or watch what is said about him.
But you have to think he wonders sometimes, “What more do they want?"
“He’s from here," Dan said. “He followed such a legend. Sometimes, it got to him."
Maybe not so much now. Cronin isn’t selling a ruined program. Always a good recruiter, now he has something to sell. “He knew from Day 1 it was about getting players,’’ Dan said. “By the end of the year, the cream rises, and for those first few years, we didn’t have any cream."
Mick doesn’t have to endure bash-ful signs at home games now. He can tell the truth about his program, unlike when he started. Back then, if he’d said “Here’s how bad it is," UC fans would have hidden the women and children.
Now, he has a resume that includes a solid No. 6 seed in the Madness. No reason to be mad, UC Fan. Not anymore.
http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20110313/COL03/303130024/Doc-Fill-up-Mickwagon
On Nov.19, 2005, Mick Cronin and his Murray State Racers piled into a bus headed back home to Kentucky, after a 79-75 overtime loss at UC. As the bus crossed the Brent Spence Bridge, Cronin said to no one in particular, “It’s going to be a tough deal for the guy who gets that (UC) job."
This was Andy Kennedy’s winter in Clifton, Year 1 post-Huggs. As Cronin describes it, “They had all seniors, no recruits, fans were upset. They’d lost (Huggins). You’d have to be crazy to take that job."
“What about Kennedy?" someone wondered.
“He might not want it,’’ Cronin said.
You know the rest of the story. The job almost no one wanted was taken by the only guy who wanted it badly. You might think five years is a long time to resurrect a basketball program, and these days, maybe it is. As Cronin’s brother Dan said Sunday night, “Five years is an eternity in college basketball. Society doesn’t want to wait five years for anything."
A certain segment of the UC fan base certainly didn’t. Doesn’t. Won’t. This is more than a little strange, in a town that worships its own like no other. Mick Cronin went to LaSalle, he went to UC. He coached for Huggins, before committing the unpardonable sin of wanting to improve himself as a coach, by working for Rick Pitino.
He inherited a Dumpster fire of a program: One scholarship player, an APR score so awful, the Bearcats were in danger of losing scholarships if they didn’t bring it up quickly. Those who know what Cronin took on have no issues with his rate of progress.
Five years wasn’t a long time to return to the Madness. Five years was just about right. Anything earlier would have been remarkable; anything later would have been reason to grumble.
Consider some names of players who have started for Cronin in the best quasi-amateur basketball league in the land:
Adam Hrycaniuk, Jamual Warren, Steve Toyloy. Ron Allen. Marcus Sikes, Timmy Crowell. Nothing against these gentlemen. They came into a lousy situation and made it better. But, c’mon.
Dan Cronin said a Big East official said to him in Mick’s first season, “Mick’s bringing a dart gun to a gun fight."
By Year 3, Cronin had enough people who at least resembled Big East players to win eight conference games. Last year, the Bearcats were a team marginally on the bubble. Now, they have a No. 6 seed in the Madness and will play in Washington, D.C., against Missouri on Thursday.
Good enough?
The NCAA tournament is the litmus test for all Division I programs. It has risen to such prominence, it is the only litmus test. Unless you are an elite program, or one that perhaps thinks too highly of itself, taking part is a mark of achievement. UC rallied in February to dance off the bubble and into a decent seed.
The bashers might be disappointed. They need to give it a rest.
The Mickwagon ought to fill up. “He finally put his stamp on the program. He’s not looking over his shoulder now,’’ Dan Cronin said. Dan’s not objective, of course; neither is this column. I’ve wondered how long UC can afford to have a half-full gym – attendance was actually down this year, from last – but given what the Bearcats have achieved, the onus is off Cronin now, and on the fans.
“You almost feel like you climbed Mt.Kilimanjaro" was how Cronin put it. He said he understands the local ambivalence toward him. That’s hard to believe. Cronin keeps a tight circle of friends and family, and claims not to read, listen to or watch what is said about him.
But you have to think he wonders sometimes, “What more do they want?"
“He’s from here," Dan said. “He followed such a legend. Sometimes, it got to him."
Maybe not so much now. Cronin isn’t selling a ruined program. Always a good recruiter, now he has something to sell. “He knew from Day 1 it was about getting players,’’ Dan said. “By the end of the year, the cream rises, and for those first few years, we didn’t have any cream."
Mick doesn’t have to endure bash-ful signs at home games now. He can tell the truth about his program, unlike when he started. Back then, if he’d said “Here’s how bad it is," UC fans would have hidden the women and children.
Now, he has a resume that includes a solid No. 6 seed in the Madness. No reason to be mad, UC Fan. Not anymore.
http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20110313/COL03/303130024/Doc-Fill-up-Mickwagon
