DID YOU KNOW: UCLA men’s basketball starts their season today? I’m just as surprised as you are.
Ok, I’m not that surprised - it’s my part-time job to know when these things are happening - but it does feel very strange to be writing a preview for the team this year. Part of that has to do with the larger UCLA Athletics space, with the football team currently undefeated and sitting in the Top 10. We’re also coming off a basketball season where the women’s team won their first NCAA National Championship, while the men’s team went home in the Round of 32. There isn’t a lot of good vibes surrounding the program.
Which makes it ironic that, in my opinion, UCLA had one of the better offseasons it has had under Mick Cronin, rebuilding the team with better purpose. Last year’s squad lacked athleticism and defensive acumen, and now is flush with that level of talent at multiple levels. They also brought in a wing in Nikola Kusturica who is a bit raw but has the talent to go at the top of the NBA draft, and the Bruins will have his services for two seasons thanks to his age. To be sure, there are still flaws with this team, but I like what is there a lot more on first glance and think there is more balance to be found.
With that, let’s get into this season’s big preview.
Who’s Gone
Donovan Dent (LSU?)
Skyy Clark (LSU?)
Tyler Bilodeau (exhausted eligibility)
Jamar Brown (exhausted eligibility)
Steven Jamerson II (exhausted eligibility)
UCLA lost three starters from last year’s squad, but they were likely going to lose all of them anyway due to being out of eligibility.
Let’s start with Dent and Clark there. You’ll notice it says they’ve transferred to LSU, but there is a question mark. Right now, both of them are fighting in court to earn another year of eligibility, and a judge has temporarily granted them an extra year. That could change at any time, which explains why so many teams, including UCLA, shied away from bringing both back, and also explains why LSU brought them in. The Tigers under Will Wade have a fascinating strategy of going heavy on transfers who may or may not be eligible; a month ago, LSU had only four players on scholarship who were cleared to play. Almost like there’s a pattern at that school or something!
UCLA is going to miss Dent and Clark, though I do question how much. Dent will likely be missed more as he was a pure point guard, and UCLA doesn’t have a guard on the roster who can initiate the offense to that level. That said, he struggled to repeat his success from New Mexico against a Power Conference schedule, and I do wonder how well he will do in an SEC that won’t be surprised by his speed. Losing Clark does not appear to be a major loss, as UCLA found a younger, better replacement, which we’ll get into below.
The Bruins also lost their leading scorer in Tyler Bilodeau, though there was a point this offseason where it looked like UCLA was considering bringing him back and helping to file a suit to get him an extra year of eligibility. Bilodeau was a matchup nightmare for opposing teams, able to beat teams with a bevy of post moves but also having a consistent outside shot. UCLA hit its best stretch of the season when they shifted Bilodeau back to the five for portions of the game, as Bilodeau was able to prey on the slower bigs who were forced to guard him to the perimeter. Bilodeau was not the best defender, and losing him means Eric Dailey will be able to move back to his natural position at the four, but Bilodeau’s scoring ability is going to be hard to replace.
Brown and Jamerson ended up as depth pieces that saw minor minutes by the end of games, and stand out as a continued cautionary tale when it comes to this staff’s ability to find productive pieces from the lower levels.
Who’s Back
Trent Perry
Eric Dailey Jr.
Xavier Booker
Brandon Williams
Eric Freeny*
The departure of Dent and Clark means that the keys are officially being turned over to Trent Perry on offense. Perry’s development has been welcome, as he has turned into one of the better shooters in the country while getting stronger on ball. He’s a bigger guard, which allows him to stick to shooting guards well, though he does lack top-end athleticism. The big question with Perry is how comfortable he looks running the offense; he had moments where he ran things as the backup point guard the past few years, but the best stretch of his career came as an off-ball guard who drew opponents away from the ball with his shooting gravity.
Eric Dailey should see improvements to his numbers across the board this year now that he’s back at his natural position at the 4. UCLA experimented with the idea of playing Dailey at the 3 for much of last year in an effort to get him on the court as much as possible, but it did not seem to help unlock him in any sort of way. Dailey scuffled through last year, but found some success late in the year when he moved back to the four more consistently. His rebounding and defense similarly improved in those situations, and the hope is that he can carry over that play into this season. There were practice reports that he had spent much of the offseason working on his outside shot, with a 7-9 shooting performance against Cal Baptist in the first scrimmage indicative of a more confident stroke.
The coaching staff has been raving about Xavier Booker’s improvement over the offseason, but I am firmly in wait-and-see mode. He certainly got more confident in his role as the season progressed, but expecting him to instantly take to his first full-time experience as a post player was asking too much. UCLA was able to fully unlock him as a sixth man off the bench that could take advantage of second units, and I think a lot of the hope here is that the experience and a whole offseason of post work will pay off in improved play. He’s never going to be a great rebounder or defender, but UCLA invested at other spots that may help out here.
Brandon Williams looked more cut coming into this season, and looks to have completely changed his body from how he looked as a freshman. He still projects as a rotation piece, but may move down the depth chart thanks to some surprising newcomers. Eric Freeny was projected to be a core part of the guard rotation, but he has some undisclosed issue that will be keeping him away from the court for the time being.
Who’s New
Transfers noted in italics.
Nikola Kusturica
Jaylen Petty (Texas Tech)
Joe Philon III
Filip Jovic (Auburn)
Sergej Macura (Mississippi State)
Azavier Robinson (Butler)
Javonte Floyd
Gunars Grinvalds
Let’s start with the big name first. Nikola Kusturica represents a major coup for Mick Cronin, as he’s a highly talented Serbian wing who has spent the last few seasons as part of FC Barcelona’s youth academy. Kusturica is seen as a future Top 5 draft pick in 2028, with an elite blend of size and wingspan. More importantly, he has an unbelievable motor, developed while he was working his way up in the Serbian basketball scene, when he was moved up to older teams and had to learn how to be a complementary player. That motor showed itself in the exhibition win over Cal Baptist, when Kusturica dove for a loose ball - in an exhibition that UCLA was already winning comfortably - kicked the ball to an open teammate, got up, and repositioned himself to grab an offensive rebound and draw a foul on the put-back.
That motor is what is going to drive him this season as he gets used to the American version of the game. Kusturica is a bit slight, and his shooting stroke is still a work in progress, but he’s a great defender and rebounder already, and the work ethic he possesses makes him seem like the kind of player Mick Cronin would grow in a lab. Funnily enough, Kusturica seemingly sought out Cronin’s tough coaching style, as it was similar to the one he had grown up with. UCLA also had the foresight to add a few more Serbian players this offseason to help Kusturica with the transition.
For Kusturica and UCLA, this season is going to be one of growth. I think it would be foolish to expect him to light up the scoresheet every night, especially since he still needs time to grow and fill out his frame to handle the challenge of a Big Ten schedule. But by the end of this season, it wouldn’t shock me to see him become the clear best player on this team.
The other immediate starter that was brought in this offseason was Jaylen Petty from Texas Tech. Petty is another Cronin-archetype player, full of athleticism and hustle. Petty is also the reason I think UCLA upgraded over Skyy Clark, as he’s as good of a shooter while being a much better defender. Like Perry, Petty is more of a combo guard, so this season will involve him learning to lead the offense, but he’s already a good shooter and defender, which should keep him in Cronin’s good graces.
One guy who really surprised me in the exhibition games was incoming freshman Joe Philon III. Philon is one of those uber-athletic high school players who come to college needing to work on the more technical aspects of their game, but through two games it is clear that the athleticism is going to translate to this level. Philon has shown some solid basketball IQ thus far, specifically in understanding what he can and can’t do yet, and has been doing a good job of limiting his mistakes. His biggest issue so far is fouling, but I’ve shifted my opinion of what his role is going to be already and think he’s going to be a solid rotation piece this year.
Filip Jovic and Sergej Macura both transferred in from the SEC as something of a package deal, with Jovic being the more ready of the two for minutes. Despite his 6’8” frame, Jovic plays more like a post player and shows good ability to rebound. He also draws a ton of fouls; Jovic shot 18 free throws during the two exhibitions, leading the team by a healthy margin. Jovic will be first off the bench to spell Booker, and despite the height limits, I think he can provide solid minutes. Macura is going to be more of a depth piece, and may see limited action.
The last player that will be part of the rotation is Azavier Robinson. Nicknamed “Stink”, the second-year player had a solid first outing at Butler last year before an injury ended his season in January. He’s not much of a scorer (though he shot 43.3% from three last year, which means he should be able to act as an outside threat), but he’s a good defensive option that should be able to handle part of the workload against top guard options.
Javonte Floyd is fairly new to basketball and will take a virtual redshirt as he learns the position at the college level. Gunars Grinvalds is in the same boat. These guys will be the ones to check on in a year or so.
Team Preview
….I think this team might be better than last year?
Seriously, it feels strange to look at a team that lost its two biggest offensive weapons and say the team will improve, but I do think that is the case here. On the offensive end, losing the consistency of Bilodeau hurts, but we have to figure Dent’s up-and-down year into the equation, and assume that UCLA will get more consistent play from the guard spots with Perry and Petty. Similarly, we should expect better play from Dailey at the four rather than the three, which should combine with improvements from Booker to mitigate the loss of Bilodeau.
The addition of Kusturica, however, is the multiplier, as the Bruins finally have a true wing, and an elite one at that. Kusturica isn’t going to shoot the lights out of the ball, but he plays such a well-rounded game (final stats against Cal Baptist: 10 points on 3-for-11 shooting, eight rebounds, six assists) that he raises the floor for everyone else on the court. Kusturica can act as another initiator on offense, easing pressure on Perry and Petty, while also acting as a great option as a cutter and slasher. He also helps on the offensive glass, which will help with UCLA’s offensive efficiency.
The offense continuing to be solid isn’t what puts me over the top on this year’s team being better, however. It’s the defensive end where I’m more excited, because I think this team could end up very good on that front.
Kusturica is a big part of this thought process, as he’s a defensive nightmare for so many small forwards, able to bother them with his length and savvy. Joe Philon gives the Bruins another good defensive option at the three when Kusturica sits (or even slides to the four for some lineups), and Eric Dailey should have a much better defensive year when he’s not stuck trying to guard out of position. Trent Perry and Jaylen Petty are a major defensive upgrade over Dent and Clark last year, and I think UCLA will have a pretty good defense at the point-of-attack. That should lessen the burden on Booker and Jovic in the paint, but even there I would expect some growth on the defensive end from Booker due to having more experience.
If there is a downside, I think UCLA’s bench is weaker than last year. Part of that is due to moving Perry into the starting lineup, and losing Freeny hurts as well. I do think UCLA’s wing rotation is much stronger than last year, however, and Jovic provides a real backup option for Booker compared to Jamerson. That said, I don’t think anyone in this group is going to be a major offensive contributor, so I’d assume that UCLA’s point share is going to heavily favor the starting lineup.
Expectations
Normally, when I come into this final expectations portion of the preview, I have a vague idea of what I want to do. After going through the roster and schedule a few times, I can usually pinpoint what I want to see from the team and give some general expectations for the season.
I’m having trouble doing that this year, mostly because so much of it seems to be in flux. I literally did a Q&A with our old friends at AZ Desert Swarm, where my prediction for the Arizona game came down to “I don’t know, man, there are so many moving parts.” There are moments I want to be harsh and put some high expectations on the team because Cronin has been the coach long enough, but there are other times when I look at who was brought in, especially Kusturica, and recognize that this is a two-year operation.
So with all that in mind, here are my expectations for the year:
Make the NCAA Tournament.
Give Kusturica as much exposure and development time as possible.
Don’t embarrass yourself.
I get it, those are some soft expectations. Again, I think this is a two-year project, and for that to ultimately work, the Bruins and especially Mick Cronin are going to need to be patient and put long-term growth over short-term results. I doubt he will be happy with that, and neither will fans, but it is the most realistic outcome I can put here. As a compromise, I’ll put down some thoughts I have about this team overall:
First, I think this team ends up in the top half of the Big Ten, and possibly near the upper end of that half. Part of this has to do with my belief that a ton of teams are taking a major step back, and outside of Illinois and Michigan State, there aren’t many teams that are legitimate contenders. The Bruins have a fairly safe road schedule in conference, all things considered, and they get many of the teams in that second tier (Michigan, Ohio State, Iowa, Wisconsin) at home, where they’ve been really good over the past few years. That should be enough to carry the day.
The Mick Cronin truism that his teams look better later in the year is going to hold here. A lot of players are stepping into new roles (with some even stepping into college basketball for the first time), so growing pains are to be expected, but I think the talent on this team has a higher ceiling than in years past. A lot of that belief has to do with Kusturica, but there are others like Petty and Perry who have room to grow as well.
The defense and rebounding will be much improved. Again, having a true wing in Kusturica helps here, along with Dailey playing his actual position, but I think UCLA upgraded considerably in the length and athleticism department at multiple positions, and that is going to translate into better defense overall. I think UCLA’s backups like Philon and Robinson contribute to this idea that the Bruins will roll out some solid defensive lineups regardless of who is on the court.
Similarly, I think this offense is going to be rough to start until Kusturica gets comfortable enough to operate with the ball in his hands. Perry and Petty are combo guards at best, and I don’t know how much I trust them to initiate the offense on their own; getting a third option on the court is going to be critical in that regard.
All of which to say: I really have no idea what to expect from this team. I think they can be good, but not great, but there’s potential to build into a great team the following year. This year is as much about growth as anything else, but in 2026, can a college basketball program afford to do that anymore? Or do results matter even more?
Either way, I’m fascinated to see what happens.
Go Bruins.
Thanks again for supporting The Mighty Bruin. Your paid subscriptions make this site possible. Questions, comments, story ideas, angry missives and more can be sent to @TheMightyBruin on Twitter.
Good article. Thanks Dimitri. I was really looking forward to Freeny with Williams coming off the bench. Two guys that don't need the ball but will do the little things to help you win.
For some reason, i think this team is Sweet 16 bound.
I think the bruins will pull off the upset tonight even though Arizona at -4.5 really isn't really much of an upset.