Mick Cronin jokes about Indiana's uniforms: 'Coach Knight might be rolling over in his grave'

The Indiana Hoosiers welcomed the UCLA Bruins to Bloomington on Friday night and decided to wear some new uniforms for that occasion. Those uniforms, which were made by Adidas, caught the attention of UCLA head coach Mick Cronin.

After the game, Cronin was sharing his thoughts on the history of Indiana basketball and joked that former head coach Bobby Knight would be rolling in his grave if he knew about the red uniforms that Indiana wore with a small and offset logo to go with a small and offset number.

Honoring & celebrating the connecting threads of Black Excellence.#HONORINGBLACKEXCELLENCE | #HBE | @adidasHoops pic.twitter.com/p5al72bXMs

— Indiana Basketball (@IndianaMBB) February 14, 2025

“I said to your guys, people at the scorer’s table before the tipoff,” Mick Cronin joked. “I said, man, I don’t know, Coach Knight might be rolling over in his grave looking at those uniforms. Adidas must have talked them into that. When I was at Cincinnati, we were with Adidas. They had us wearing some crazy neon stuff one time too, so that’s what I was thinking about when I saw those uniforms.”

Bobby Knight was, of course, a coach known for his larger-than-life personality and he likely would’ve had plenty of thoughts on the Hoosiers breaking from their traditional home uniforms.

In the end, Cronin and UCLA beat Indiana 72-68 to drop the Hoosiers to 15-11 overall and 6-9 in Big Ten play. This also comes at a time when Indiana is beginning its search for a new head coach. It’s a job that Cronin shared he is aware has interest of him, though he also shared he doesn’t pay attention to those things. Still, in 2025, he does see some similarities between his job and Indiana’s.

“Obviously, there’s blue blood jobs,” Cronin said. “People write these articles now, like what’s a — because we haven’t won the title since ’95. So, it’s never gonna change. The Yankees are always going to be the Yankees. UCLA basketball, Indiana basketball is always gonna be — that’s just the way it is. So, I don’t think, even though, what’s it been since coach, since Steve [Alford] won it? It’s still the Hoosiers, man.”

Indiana has the history to be a blue blood program, having won the NCAA Tournament five times and going to eight Final Fours, though not since 2002.

“Here’s what I would tell you about programs, okay? I think programs, they’ve changed because of the new rules. I used to always say you’ve got to have support commensurate with expectations, okay? Now, I can’t answer those questions, only for UCLA. You’ve got to have support commensurate with expectations. To be a great program, you’ve got to have great tradition,” Cronin said. “And you’ve got to have great fans and the backbone support of all the guys and your tradition that played. For me, I’ve got guys like Kareem [Abdul-Jabbar] and Mike Warren, and Jamaal Wilkes, guys that are just tremendous, supportive guys at every game. That’s important as well.”

At the same time, Mick Cronin knows full well that regardless of who the new Indiana coach is, they won’t be able to rely on tradition. Challenges now facing college athletics are also going to change the job.

“Now you’ve got to tack on the NIL and whatever the new rule is with revenue share. So, you’ve got to throw those two in. But I just think back to the big-time tradition, support, and your fanbase, your former players. So, you would know the answer to what’s intact here. I know my mentality. I walk out here and I see Coach Knight just like I walk out of my job and see Coach [John] Wooden, man. That’s just what I see.”