Mick Cronin reacts to Jaime Jaquez winning Pac-12 Player of the Year

The Pac-12 handed out awards on Tuesday, naming UCLA forward Jaime Jaquez the conference’s Player of the Year. In what has been an outstanding season for everyone in Los Angeles, Jaquez in particular has been amazing in his senior year. Head coach Mick Cronin has consistently had someone to rely on when the Bruins needed it.

Cronin first learned of Jaquez winning the award while speaking to the media on Tuesday. It’s always a special moment for a coach when a player is able to bring home such a prestigious award. Even so, focus is ahead on what’s to come in the month of March.

“Great,” Cronin said. “Very happy for him. Jaime has a lot of goals. I think stuff like this for a player like Jaime is something they’ll be able to reflect on when they’re older. Right now, it’s like ‘Jaime, you’re in the pool swimming laps, man. You can’t stop.’ His race isn’t over. He’s got team goals he wants to accomplish, he’s got career goals he wants to accomplish.”

Jaquez is averaging 17.5 points and 8.0 rebounds per game heading into the postseason. Both rank inside the top five of the conference, putting on a show on a nightly basis. But as Cronin said, there is still a ton at stake for UCLA this season.

Depending on how conference tournaments go, UCLA could find itself as a one-seed in the NCAA Tournament. Jaquez knows the feeling of making a run and being so close to winning a national championship. From the way Cronin talks, Jaquez would likely trade his Pac-12 Player of the Year award for a piece of the net down in Houston.

Mick Cronin dishes out credit to Auolas Tubelis

Cronin made sure to give credit out to Jaquez’s perceived competitor for the award, Arizona‘s Auolas Tubelis. The two were clearly the top players in the Pac-12 this season but the UCLA star was the one who will have the hardware to look at in the future.

“Look, it’s tough,” Cronin said. “(Auolas) Tubelis had a great year. So congratulations to him for his season at Arizona. But Jaime should be proud of the award. Like I said, you get older and you look back. He can show his kids ‘look at what I won.'”

Jaquez will have another opportunity to prove himself in Las Vegas for the Pac-12 Tournament. The NCAA Tournament will be the big stage though, looking to guide the Bruins to the program’s 12th national title.