Los Angeles– UCLA Coach Mick Cronin said Friday he apologizes steven jamerson ii For sending the center to the locker room late after a blowout loss to No. 15. michigan state Then he committed a tough foul.
Before the referees reviewed the play and assessed Jamerson with flagrant foul 1, Cronin grabbed Jamerson’s jersey and motioned for him to leave the court in the final minutes of Tuesday’s 23-point loss to the Spartans in East Lansing.
“Honestly, I don’t think the whole world has ever seen anything like this in a game,” the Bruins guard says. trent perry Said.
“I’ve already apologized to Steve, okay?” Cronin told reporters before UCLA’s practice. “That’s the only reason I sent him to the locker room. I thought he really made a dirty play and tried to finish the guy off. Once I saw the film, I mean, he’s still got the F-1. To be honest with you, I don’t even know if he deserved it.”
Cronin said Spartans coach Tom Izzo “thought the same thing when I talked to him.”
Cronin joked that Jamerson “asked me for $10,000 more for nothing because of this.”
He spoke enthusiastically about Jamerson, who played three seasons at the University of San Diego before transferring to UCLA last summer for his final year of eligibility. Jamerson has started once in 26 games, averaging 2.2 points and 2.4 rebounds in 11.3 minutes. He was unsuccessful as a forward at Michigan State early in his career.
“Everything that is good about college basketball is in Steve,” Cronin said. “That’s everything I believe in in college basketball. That being said, I’m trying to play defense, like I take it really seriously. Our guys don’t get technique. We’re not taking guys to the air.”
Cronin said he was sometimes too candid in his comments. Since UCLA joined the Big Ten last season, he has complained about travel and tipoff times and has harshly criticized his players at times after games. After the Michigan State loss, he also gave a blunt answer to a reporter’s question about Spartan fans.
Cronin said, “I have to do a better job of how, in this environment, you have to be careful what you say. I fit in here because I know I’m not bigger than the brand and here the brand matters, the school matters. The last thing I want to do is bring negative publicity to our school.”
“I apologize to our people — the school, the students, everyone in our community — because this is important. These jobs, you have to raise money, you have to befriend donors, I mean I believe in all of these things.”
When Jamerson practiced with the team on Friday, he was not made available to the media. Asked how the redshirt senior took Cronin’s apology, the coach responded, “Oh, he’s the best, man. … It’s not like I kicked him off the team.”
Perry, who is Jamerson’s roommate, offered reassuring words.
“He’s very mature about it,” Perry said. “I’m just glad he’s taking care of himself and I’m checking in on him every day.”
guard Sky Clark Said the team is supporting Jamerson.
“Coach offered a very sincere apology,” Clark said. “I mean, obviously he was wondering about it a little bit, but you know, we gave him some words of encouragement.”
Clarke said the players’ one-time meeting had been called after the heavy defeat on the road and a second meeting was likely to be held later on Friday.
“We just have to stick together,” he said. “That’s been the main focus.”
Cronin dismissed notions that he did not have the support of his players by leaving out Jamerson.
“I know what I’m about,” the eighth-year coach said, “so I don’t really worry about it.”
Clark, a Louisville transfer and the Bruins’ third-leading scorer, has found a balance between various forms of criticism of Cronin.
He said, “I say just listen to the message, not how it’s being delivered. If you do that, you’ll really hear what he’s trying to say, rather than just how he’s trying to say it.” “That’s how he coaches. He was trained under some of the same coaches, and so his coaching style is similar.”
The Bruins (17-9, 9-6 Big Ten) host 10th-ranked Illinois (22-5, 13-3) on Saturday. They are coming off back-to-back blowout losses to then-No. 2 Michigan (30 points) and Michigan State.
Their only signature win of the season was a 69–67 victory over then-No. 4 Purdue last month.
“We saw we could do it and so why not do it again?” Clark said.
