Mick Cronin believes commenting on Mike Woodson situation would be 'wildly inappropriate'

Indiana head coach Mike Woodson is set to step down as Hoosiers head coach at the end of the season, it was announced last week. It wasn’t long after that multiple names were thrown around as potential candidates for the position.

Hot boards over the past week have notably linked UCLA head coach Mick Cronin to the soon-to-be-vacant head coaching job in Bloomington. When asked to comment on mid-season coaching changes and whether he’d be interested in the job, Cronin was cautious when answering the media.

“I would never comment on a coaching situation,” Cronin told reporters after his Bruins defeated Indiana 72-68. “It would be wildly inappropriate because I’m the son of a coach, and the way I look at it is that Mike Woodson’s the coach at Indiana. Now, that man’s coaching his basketball team, and he was a national champion. I happen to know him. I have known Kenya Hunter on his staff extremely well for many years and have tremendous respect for their kids and their team.

“To me, nobody should say anything that distracts anything with them with that. So I just think it would be wildly inappropriate, mostly for what I said, my respect for Coach Woodson. He’s over there coaching his team. That’s all that anybody needs to – I understand you guys gotta do your job and ask. That’s my stance on that stuff.”

Woodson, 66, took over as the Hoosiers’ head coach in 2021 following Archie Miller’s departure. It marked his first college coaching opportunity after a long career on the sidelines in the NBA, including head coaching stints with the Atlanta Hawks and New York Knicks.

If Cronin were to make the jump, the Hoosiers would be acquiring a coach who is currently two wins shy of 500 on his carer with a trip to the Final Four in 2021 under his belt. From 2021-2023, Croning took UCLA to the Sweet 16 in three-straight years but missed the tournament in 2024.

Regardless of his ultimate decision, there’s still unfinished business for Cronin and the Bruins this season. At 19-7 overall (10-5, Big Ten), ESPN’s Joe Lunardi projects UCLA as a 6-seed in the NCAA Tournament if the big dance started today.

The Bruins will look to earn their 20th win of the season when they take on Minnesota at home on Tuesday night. Tip-off is set fo 10:30 p.m. ET live on FS1.