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UC's first-year head coach Mick Cronin works nonstop to develop his players, both on court and off. |
photo/Andrew Higley |
Most would expect the Bearcats head coach to automatically settle on the day he got his "dream job" at UC. But he doesn't. "The feeling of euphoria and excitement when I got the job as the head coach at Cincinnati is probably something I'll never experience again," he says. "But I don't know if it was my most successful day."
The intense competitor in Cronin -- a Bob Huggins assistant at UC from 1997 to 2001, who returned to Cincinnati last year following stints at Louisville and Murray State -- would rather think his best day involved a big win or even the signing of a talented recruit.
Cronin, the son of a coach, was practically raised in the gymnasium. He played basketball "nonstop" from seventh grade through his senior year. "I was an addicted player," he admits. When a knee injury dashed his hopes to play in college, he turned to coaching high school at 19.
So, in his mind, it would seem almost a disservice to the game for his favorite moment to have occurred off the court. At the very least, his best day should revolve around the accomplishments of one of his players rather than his own.
"I know my worst day," the 35-year-old offers instead. "The day Kenyon broke his leg." That day was March 9, 2000, when, minutes into the conference tournament game against St. Louis, UC's Kenyon Martin, the consensus national MVP, fractured his fibula.
Considering that that day ranks among the most disappointing sports moments in Cincinnati history (perhaps second only to Carson Palmer's playoff-ending injury in 2005), Cronin's choice isn't terribly surprising. After all, the Bearcats, the No. 1 team in the country -- with Martin, the most dominant player in the country -- were favored to win the national championship.
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Mick Cronin, A&S '97
Age: 35 Experience JV Head Coach at Woodward High, 1991-96 Video Coordinator at UC, 1996-97 Assistant Coach at UC, 1997-2001 Associate Head Coach at Louisville, 2001-03 Head Coach at Murray State, 2003-06 Head Coach at UC, 2006- |
While fans watched the season slip away as No. 4 was helped from the court nearly seven years ago, Cronin worried he was watching Martin's career crumble. The 28-year-old assistant coach agonized over the seriousness of the injury to a player who turned down a chance to go to the NBA to return to UC for his senior year.
"I was really close with Kenyon back then," Cronin says. "The guy's bone was sticking out of his leg, and I am thinking, 'Man, oh man, this could be tragic.' But I was trying not to show that to him. I was trying to be positive with him. That was a rough day."
Cronin says people often remind him that UC would likely have won the championship had Martin remained healthy. And he agrees. But there are times, as a coach, when winning is secondary. The well-being of his players comes first.
"I always tell the kids, as a coach, my career will continue. But individual players have only one shot to make it. Fortunately, it worked out for Kenyon. (He was still the No. 1 pick in the 2000 NBA draft.) But at the time, we didn't know."
