This post was updated Feb. 18 at 10:20 p.m.
Most players who foul out take a seat on the bench as the opposing crowd jeers at them to sit down.
But coach Mick Cronin took things a step further Tuesday night.
Cronin – a coach known for critical evaluations of his team and negative opinions on his players after tough losses – may have made his most viral moment yet. Not only did his Bruin squad get blown out, but he also made Steven Jamerson’s East Lansing return his newest version of public humiliation.
Down 27 with 4:26 remaining in the affair between UCLA men’s basketball and No. 15 Michigan State, redshirt senior Steven Jamerson II fouled Michigan State center Carson Cooper on a transition dunk attempt.
But even before the forward/center officially fouled out, Cronin grabbed Jamerson’s jersey, dragging him to the corner of the bench and telling members of his coaching staff to get Jamerson “out of here.”
“I guess he upgraded that to a flagrant two,” said Michigan State coach Tom Izzo. “That’s the first time I saw a coach do it, but that sounds like Mick, so he’ll get that straightened out.”
The redshirt senior was a Michigan State student during the 2021-22 school year. He was denied a walk-on spot on Izzo’s squad and even failed to become a team manager after applying.
Tuesday night was his chance to prove Izzo wrong. His final opportunity to get the last laugh. His time to prove the people who once doubted him wrong. The chance to show he belonged at the Division I level.
[Related: Men’s basketball’s Steven Jamerson II leaves his comfort zone, proves resilience]
It seemed like the stars had finally aligned for Jamerson.
But Jamerson looked visibly confused while arguing and pleading with his leader, as Cronin ejected him from the arena he once attended as a freshman student.
Cronin refused to waver, ushering his player out of the game and directing his staff to get Jamerson out of his sight – all of it in front of 14,797 fans, the majority of whom donned the same colors Jamerson once wore.
Millions watched as Jamerson jogged, with his head down, toward the tunnel – escorted by Dave Andrews, director of Men’s Basketball Athletic Performance, off the hardwood.
Spartan fans jeered, waved goodbye and flipped the him off.
A Spartan reunion full of promise and the opportunity for vengeance was flatlined as the forward/center left the camera’s view.
But why?
Why did Cronin decide to eject his own player, ruining Jamerson’s dream while embarrassing him on live TV for the whole world to see?
Instead of Jamerson walking away with a 23-point blowout loss and an individual performance marred by more fouls than points, Cronin decided to rub salt in the wound.
Cronin said Jamerson’s hard foul was unnecessary given the 27-point lead the Spartans had and tabbed his late-game hustle as something he should have used earlier in the affair.
“Steve’s a good kid. He made a bad decision,” Cronin said. “If you want to be a tough guy, you need to do it during the game. Guy was defenseless in the air. Game’s a 25-point game – you don’t do that.”
But Jamerson’s foul was not “dirty.”
It was a hard foul. UCLA was down almost 30 points, and the game was already over. Cooper had a free dunk, and Jamerson probably couldn’t have stopped it.
But none of that matters.
The reality is, Jamerson was one of the few players still hustling despite the score. His foul was not malicious. He did not say anything or taunt Cooper after the foul. And, most importantly, it looked like Jamerson was playing the ball.
Is that not what you would want as a coach, especially considering Cronin’s consistent demands of more intensity from his players?
Regardless, even if Jamerson had malicious intent, even if the foul was hard or unnecessary, there is never a reason to eject your own player and subject him to nationwide, publicized humiliation.
Yes, you can yell at him all you want in the locker room or on the plane ride home. Cronin could have sat him for the entirety of the next game if he really felt it was necessary.
But what Cronin did Tuesday night is not how he should have handled the situation, and it should not be treated as normal or expected either.
As much as it’s a coach’s job to hold their players accountable, it’s also their job to protect them too.
And instead of shielding his player from harassment and saving his ridicule for a private setting, he became the biggest face of it.
Cronin’s frustration with Jamerson is not a singular act.
The UCLA head coach dubbed his players “soft” and “delusional” after falling to Minnesota at Pauley Pavilion on Feb. 18, 2025.
Cronin also said his players “think they are way better than they are,” after another home loss to Michigan on Jan. 7, 2025.
The Bruin head honcho is no stranger to voicing his frustrations with his team. And everyone knows that. Cronin’s postgame explosions are expected at this point.
But his behavior Tuesday night is unacceptable.
Cronin has approached this season with increasing animosity, frustration and confrontation as his team has failed to live up to its No. 12 preseason ranking.
And Tuesday night’s fiasco resembled the final straw.
Cronin’s behavior is illustrative of a larger problem at work within the UCLA men’s basketball program and it needs to be addressed.
Comments are closed.