UCLA coach Mick Cronin: Realignment not 'in the best interest of the student-athlete'

As realignment alters college athletics, several administrators and officials have said the moves are a massive benefit to student-athletes, but one college basketball coach says it's far from that.

UCLA men's basketball coach Mick Cronin told reporters Thursday the moves, which include his school moving from the Pac-12 to the Big Ten in 2024, are for monetary reasons.

He added people don’t understand the real reasons why realignment is happening, which to him, is because schools need to pay for the non-revenue sports.

“None of it is in the best interest of the student-athlete, no matter what anybody says,” Cronin said. “It’s in the best interest of more money to cover the bills. That’s it. 

“This all happened because of money, that’s just a reality. It’s not all because of football,” he added. 

Cronin also gave a warning that this won’t be the end of athletic departments looking for more money because he believes schools will have to pay athletes in the near future.

“Where's this going to be in five years when whenever the ruling comes down, you got to pay the revenue players?  Then where's that money coming from?” he said. "We’ve already exhausted all the media rights money."

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Regardless of what happens in the future, the Pac-12 is hanging on by a thread with Cal, Stanford, Oregon State and Washington State left. Cronin said legendary Bruins coach John Wooden would be disappointed if he could see what happened to the conference he dominated.  

“He would say, ‘What is going on?' ” Cronin said. “'What do you mean there’s no more Pac-12? What, what, what do you mean this school’s in that conference, that school’s in this conference?’”