When Mick Cronin took over at UCLA in 2019, the NIL era was still a couple years away. His recruiting pitch, of course, involved the program’s storied history while following in the footsteps of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Walton and Reggie Miller.

Two years after his arrival, players got the ability to earn money through their name, image and likeness. Cronin compared the landscape shift to sitting at a poker table when the dealer changed the rules mid-game.

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Cronin acknowledged the issues facing college basketball as the NIL space continues to evolve, especially now that rev-share has arrived. However, his approach isn’t to talk at length about those problems. Instead, he stressed the importance of adapting to the ever-changing space.

“In this era, you can’t let the NIL stuff eat you alive,” Cronin said on The Field of 68. “‘Why? Why? They’ve got to fix it.’ All that stuff. Look, it is what it is. You sat down to play poker and, in the middle of the game, they changed the game. This is my analogy. It’s simple. I got to sit down, obviously, at UCLA with the best hand – best campus, best tradition, best weather, best school, all that stuff. But then, they changed the game.

“So you’ve got two choices, the way I see it: play the new game or get up and leave. Quit playing. But to just sit there and cry that they changed the game the whole time, what you don’t realize is you’re ruining your life, your existence. That’s how I look at it.”

Mick Cronin: ‘You’ve just got to play the game’

After the Golden State Warriors’ season ended in the NBA Play-In Tournament, Steve Kerr pondered his future. That included a pre-planned vacation to play golf before ultimately signing a new contract to return next season.

In the college game, though, Mick Cronin acknowledged coaches can’t take trips right away. The transfer portal opened the day after the national championship, meaning the staff had to prepare for players to hit the open market. He said it’s the reality of the current era.

“The season ends and we all need a vacation,” Cronin said. “I read where Coach Kerr, Golden State got knocked out, he immediately went on a golf trip. We immediately met all day every day until the portal opened and did you know Zooms from 8 a.m., starting in Europe to American kids, until 6:00 every night. By the time 6:00 hits, I never want to hear myself talk again after doing Zooms that long. But that’s just how it is. You’ve just got to play the game, man. And I think this is important.

“For me, you’ve got to realize, okay, is it how I would like it to be? No, of course not. But I am the coach at UCLA and I get to coach who I want. Now, you can’t get everybody you want, but you don’t have to bring back guys that you don’t think are good guys, the kind of guys you want to be around, the kind of guys you want your locker room. Just don’t offer him the contract to come back.”