After making the second weekend in his first three seasons as the UCLA basketball head coach, can Mick Cronin start a new streak this year?
The tradition continues! It’s another year of our countdown of the top 100 preseason teams in college basketball until the start of the season. Each day, we will reveal the next team until we reach the team slotted at number one. Up next: UCLA basketball.
To put it nicely, Mic Cronin isn’t afraid to speak his mind. We’ve seen countless clips of him firing back at the media, complaining about his team, and many other outbursts. He backs it up, though, winning over 20 games in all but one of his seven seasons at UCLA and winning an NCAA Tournament game in six of the seven. In his first three years where there was a tournament, he made the Final Four, then Sweet 16 twice.
In the last three years, though, he missed the tournament, then got bounced in the round of 32. Last year, they faced the bubble after falling to 17-9 and 9-6 in conference play, then ripped off six wins in eight attempts to earn the 7 seed. They beat UCF in round one, then lost to the eventual runner-ups in UConn.
They lost their two best players from last year in Tyler Bilodeau and Donovan Dent. Dent’s dominance as a playmaker was the key reason for them going on that run, and Bilodeau was the team’s leading scorer. They also lose Skyy Clark, who started 23 games for the Bruins. However, they do bring back Trent Perry, who had a sophomore breakout and could be one of the best players in the Big Ten, as well as Eric Dailey, the rock-solid forward.
Jaylen Petty is the top transfer acquisition, who comes from Texas Tech after a solid freshman season. He has the ability to take that sophomore leap that we saw from Perry. They also add an international transfer in Nikola Kusturica, who scouts seem to be in love with and could be a game-breaking addition.
The depth is fine, adding Filip Jovic from Auburn and Sergej Macura from Mississippi State. It’ll be interesting to see how they perform on the first night of college basketball, when they take on Arizona. The result won’t be a reflection of the team, but it might give us a good idea of the potential stars for this UCLA basketball team.
While there are a range of outcomes that can occur for this Bruins team, there’s one thing for sure: Mic Cronin is going to find something to complain about, and he’s going to do it while winning big games.
Head coach: Mick Cronin (24th season overall, 8th at UCLA)
2025-26 record: 24-12 (13-7)
2026 postseason finish: Lost to UConn (73-57) in second round of NCAA Tournament
Notable departures:
- Donovan Dent (13.3 PPG, 2.9 RPG, 7.6 APG)
- Tyler Bilodeau (17.6 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 1.1 APG)
- Skyy Clark (11.5 PPG, 2.3 RPG, 2.0 APG)
Notable non-conference games:
- vs. Arizona (Nov. 2)
- vs. Saint Mary’s (Nov. 26) – Rady Children’s Invitational
- vs. Georgetown OR Texas (Nov. 27) – Rady Children’s Invitational
- vs. Gonzaga (Dec. 5)
- vs. San Diego State (Dec. 29)
Projected Rotation
PG: Jaylen Petty (6-1, 175, So.)
2025-26 stats: 9.9 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 2.2 APG, 0.6 SPG, 40.6 FG%, 37.5 3P%, 77.1 FT% (Texas Tech)
SG: Trent Perry (6-4, 195, Jr.)
2025-26 stats: 12.6 PPG, 3.0 RPG, 2.8 APG, 0.9 SPG, 43.6 FG%, 39.2 3P%, 85.8 FT%
SF: Nikola Kusturica (6-9, 205, Fr.)
247Sports Composite No. 61 ranked recruit
PF: Eric Dailey Jr. (6-8, 235, Sr.)
2025-26 stats: 11.6 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 1.3 APG, 0.9 SPG, 48.6 FG%, 69.9 FT%
C: Xavier Booker (6-11, 250, Sr.)
2025-26 stats: 7.3 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 0.8 APG, 54.7 FG%, 43.3 3P%, 67.5 FT%
6: Filip Jovic (6-8, 245, So.)
2025-26 stats: 6.3 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 0.6 APG, 0.6 SPG, 64.0 FG% (Auburn)
7: Sergej Macura (6-9, 225, Jr.)
2025-26 stats: 5.0 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 0.8 APG, 0.4 SPG, 55.7 FG% (Mississippi State)
8: Brandon Williams (6-7, 235, Sr.)
2025-26 stats: 2.6 PPG, 1.9 RPG, 0.3 APG, 41.6 FG%, 64.5 FT%
9: Azavier Robinson (6-2, 195, So.)
2025-26 stats: 6.1 PPG, 1.9 RPG, 2.5 APG, 1.5 SPG, 47.0 FG%, 43.3 3P%, 71.1 FT% (Butler)
10: Eric Freeny (6-4, 215, Jr.)
2025-26 stats: 2.0 PPG, 1.6 RPG, 0.4 SPG, 11 minutes per game
UCLA basketball team MVP: Trent Perry
After a quiet freshman year where he averaged just 3.7 PPG and 11 minutes, he could have easily transferred. However, he decided to stick around and was rewarded, starting 24 games and averaging 12.6 PPG while increasing his efficiency on all three levels. He scored 22 points in the Big Ten quarterfinal win against Michigan State, then followed that up with 15 points and 9 assists in the following game.
Now, with their top two scorers gone, the Bruins are looking to him to be their go-to guy, and he’s up for it. If he can average 18 points and 4 assists, then UCLA basketball is going to win a lot of games, and he might find himself on the Big Ten First Team. Defensively, he’s solid too, averaging about a steal a game. Big things coming for Perry in year three.
UCLA basketball make-or-break player: Nikola Kusturica
Kusturica is getting a ton of draft hype ahead of the season, with some even calling him the potential #1 pick. He won a gold medal with Serbia’s U16 team in last year’s Eurobasket. In this year’s U17 World Cup, he was named to the All-Star Five team after averaging 24.6 PPG and 6.9 RPG across six matchups. In the gold medal game against the US, he scored 37 points and grabbed nine rebounds.
Clearly, this guy is the real deal. At 6’9, he has great size, and his skill is unprecedented for his age. But remember, he’s still only 17, playing against some teams who have multiple 23- and 24-year-olds on the roster. If he can play like a future #1 pick, UCLA might be one of the best teams in college basketball and a national title threat. If he still plays well and shows some growing pains, that’s fine, but it lowers their ceiling.
At 17, Kusturica needs to play two years of college basketball before he’s eligible for the draft, so get excited that we get to see him this year and next before we turn him over to the NBA.
Key statistic: Turnovers per game
UCLA was unbelievably good at not giving up the rock last year, averaging just 8.9 turnovers a game, sixth best in college basketball. It helps when you have a veteran, high-IQ point guard in Dent, who didn’t turn the ball over much, and didn’t provide his teammates an opportunity to do so very often.
Now, they replace Dent with Petty. The sophomore doesn’t have a ton of experience as a starter and could be prone to more careless possessions, and Perry hasn’t had to play the role of the primary ball handler. If they can play sound offense and keep the turnovers to a minimum, that could be the difference in a few wins and losses, and potentially a few seeds as well in the NCAA Tournament.
UCLA basketball 2026-27 projections
Projected conference finish: 7th in the Big Ten Conference
Projected postseason ceiling: NCAA Tournament Elite 8 exit