It has been a minute since Villanova Wildcats basketball mattered. In the wake of Jay Wright retiring from coaching, his successor Kyle Neptune was not up to snuff in Philadelphia. He was let go after three seasons of not making the NCAA Tournament. Villanova is a traditional power in the Big East, a program that Wright led to four Final Fours and a pair of national championships in the late 2010s.
As we begin to gather our thoughts on who could replace Neptune, Adam Zagoria at NJ Media Advance reported that UCLA head coach Mike Cronin is seen to be a "dark horse" contender for the job. The same principle applies to Northwestern head coach Chris Collins. Other candidates include Princeton's Mitch Henderson, Ryan Odom out of VCU and Richard Pitino thriving over at New Mexico.
Zagoria mentioned that Cronin, Odom and Pitino are leading teams that made the NCAA Tournament. As for Collins and Henderson, their teams did not and could conceivably interview for the vacancy right away. From Zagoria's intel, Collins and Cronin are seen to be the two leading candidates. Collins' father Doug is a Philadelphia 76ers legend. His Northwestern boss had been at Villanova previously.
As far as Cronin is concerned, why would he leave a college basketball blue-blood like UCLA for this?
Why Mick Cronin could conceivably leave UCLA to go to Villanova
Well, money talks. Cronin did get a contract extension two years ago at UCLA, but that was back when the Bruins competed in the old Pac-12. UCLA is now a member of the Big Ten, so the money he is making is probably not on par with some of the better coaches in his current league. His reported buyout is $16 million through the end of March 2025, but that drops to $10 million after March 2026.
In theory, UCLA and Villanova are on the same pecking order in the pantheon of college basketball. UCLA's best days were generations ago, but the Bruins still regularly put forth fantastic teams into the tournament. Villanova has had more success relatively recently than UCLA, but basketball is the No. 1 driver of revenue in the Big East. UCLA is a basketball school, but plays in a huge football conference.
Ultimately, I think Cronin is going to see his bank account grow one way or another. He could either use the Villanova rumors to his advantage to get more out of UCLA, or he could just take the Villanova job. UCLA may be a traditional power on the hardwood, but they routinely come up short in paying its best coaches top dollar. Villanova will have to pay a premium to get him, but do not rule it out just yet.
Keep in mind that Cronin left a pretty good situation in Cincinnati before taking the UCLA gig in 2019.