Here he is, the best point guard in the transfer portal, and Donovan Dent he was told that he couldn't do.
Acceptance was not the purpose of the teleconference with Mick Cronin. UCLA A basketball coach asked a player who could help his team compete for a national title about his plans after college.
It was easy enough. Dent told Cronin he wanted to play in the NBA.
Okay, Cronin replied, let's say you play the Lakers tomorrow. Who would you protect?
It couldn't be their main players in possession, Luka Doncic And LeBron Jamesbecause they are 6'6″ and 6-9 respectively, while Dent is only 6-2. So who do you guard next?
Continuing down the list, Cronin reached Austin ReevesDynamo 6-5.
“Cronin was like, well, you're not a good enough defender to guard him,” he said. Josh Gileswho was on hand last spring as Dent's adviser after coaching him at Corona Centennial High. “And he’s like, your biggest problem is that you have to be the best defender.”
Cronin went on to tell Dent that if he yelled at him about defense in practice, he would do his job to help him play in the NBA.
It was a different approach than most coaches vying for honorable mention All-American honors from New Mexico. They were known for their positive attitude and leniency towards their star players, rarely challenging them.
Giles had already coached five high-level prospects who went on to play for Cronin and was something of an expert on his UCLA counterpart. Giles swore and shouted, but was probably closer in temperament to the nice trainers than Cronin.
Making sure Dent understood what he was signing up for if he transferred to UCLA, Giles reiterated after the call ended that he would be held accountable and that he would be called out if he faltered.
“Well,” Dent replied, being sold, “maybe this is just what I need.”
His talent is evident in many ways.
During UCLA's first exhibition game, with a big lead dwindling, Dent used his burst of speed to get to the rim on several late possessions. Every time he made a layup or fouled, he missed every free throw to help his team win.
In the Bruins' second exhibition game, having played only the first half of a 30-point lead, Dent made a series of mid-air leaps and had eight assists, one turnover and one steal.
Surpassing his statistics were the rave reviews he subsequently received from his teammates.
Said forward Tyler Bilodeau: “He can break down any defense.”
Security guard Skye Clarke said: “He certainly makes life a lot easier.”
UCLA players (from left) Tyler Bilodeau, Skye Clark and Donovan Dent celebrate an exhibition win over San Diego State.
(Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images)
Perhaps most gratifying was the coach, who told Dent he wanted to maintain the offensive brilliance he showed at New Mexico while cutting down on turnovers and tightening up on defense.
“I mean, I love that he kept it real,” Dent said of Cronin's conference call. “He didn't sugarcoat it, he didn't try to kiss my you-know-what to get me to come here. He just kept it real. He was like, 'I'll train you.' We need to work on protecting you if you want to move on to the next step you want to take. There can be no more stupid one-handed passes.”
Growing up in Riverside, Dent had a deep appreciation for the UCLA point guards who preceded him. He admired Russell Westbrook, Jalen Hands, Jrue Holiday and Tiger Campbell, but most of all modeled his game after Lonzo Ball's free, fast style.
“That’s the way I like to play,” Dent said. “I like to get to the rim and play a lot at a fast pace, just move around a little bit and get my teammates involved.”
Beyond tradition and tough coaching, there was another lure to putting on a UCLA jersey.
A close family member is battling a serious illness, giving Dent an extra reason to battle traffic on weekend trips home to the Inland Empire.
“I won't smoke too much because it's, like, my inner circle thing,” Dent said of the situation, “but that was the only reason I didn't go to Big Ten media day. I needed to be there for my family at a big time. We're still going through it, so we're still trying to figure it out.”
“We're praying right now. It's been great for us and it's definitely trending upward, so we just hope it stays that way.”
Dent's former high school teammate realized where the conversation was heading when a reporter inquired about the “pass.”
— Pass with one hand? asked Eric Freeney, now Dent's college teammate.
That's true. That one.
During the high school championship game against Harvard-Westlake, Dent's teammate grabbed a rebound and passed him near the left sideline over the three-point line in the backcourt. The pass was behind Dent, so he had to reach back with his right hand with his back to the basket at the far end of the court.
In one motion, Dent spun and bounced between two defenders as if he were throwing a baseball, hitting Freeney for a layup as he went.
Standing in front of the Centennial bench, Giles turned to his assistant coaches.
“That’s the best pass I’ve ever seen,” the veteran coach told them.
Nearly four years later, while paying tribute to Dent's magical pass, Freeney would only admit that it was one of Dent's top five passes.
“I just know it’s not number one,” Freeny said with a laugh. “He's just a great point guard. He sees everything. He has eyes behind his head, he knows where all the spots are.”
In another playoff game against Sierra Canyon, Giles asked his point guard to be more of a scorer than a coordinator. Known for his extraordinary speed with the ball in his hands, Dent was given a mandate whenever a certain defender tried to stop him.
“It was like, 'Donny, just get past him,'” Giles said of the plan that resulted in Dent scoring 18 points during the surprise loss.
Dent won the state championship, but may have suffered from having too much talent on his team. With recruiters fixated on fellow guards Jared McCain and Kylan Boswell, Dent was largely overlooked. Cronin admired Dent's talent, but didn't need another point guard with Dylan Andrews coming to Westwood, so he called on close friend Richard Pitino, the New Mexico coach, to recruit him.
“Everyone was looking at certain guys,” Giles said of college coaches, “and I was like, ‘Hey, this guy right here, I’m not sure he can’t be the best of them all. Don’t sleep on this guy right here.” »
Cronin's recruiting advice turned out to be good. Dent became a star by the end of his three years in New Mexico.
In his final season with the Lobos, Dent showed the Bruins what they were missing. By consistently getting to the rim and finding his teammates with easy passes, Dent helped New Mexico beat UCLA last November.
He became the first NCAA player to record 600 points and 200 assists in a single season since Ja Morant at Murray State in 2018-19. However, Dent's heavy use also had a downside.
His turnovers began to mount (he alone had nine in a win over the Bruins) and his defense dropped from where it was in high school.
“It's funny with all these guys, once they start learning how to score a little bit,” Giles said, “the defense sometimes falls off, and now that Donny can score a little bit, he's not necessarily the same defender.”
UCLA guard Donovan Dent is known for his incredible speed with the ball in his hands and his ability to shoot floaters and jumpers on the move.
(Gregory Bull/Associated Press)
Thus the conference call from Cronin, who needed a new point guard last spring after Andrews transferred to Boise State.
The coach did not want to change everything about Dent. Like his new best player, Cronin suddenly felt the need for speed as part of a stylistic transformation.
“We're getting on the court really fast now,” said Clark, Dent's new backcourt teammate. “I like the way we play.”
Playing alongside a strong supporting cast that includes Clark, Bilodeau and Eric Daly Jr., who averaged 33.4 points last season, should ease the pressure on Dent to play every game.
“I tell him, on this team, he doesn’t have to be Superman,” Cronin said. “I think there are times, because last year he had to do it for his team, he had to kind of try to put on the cape, and there will be times he might have to do it here.”
If all goes well, these opportunities will extend into early April. Just as Cronin told Dent on that conference call that he wouldn't bring him to UCLA only to lose in the second round of the NCAA Tournament (as both of their teams did last spring), Dent told his new coach he wanted a chance to play in the Final Four.
They ended the conversation in lockstep. The point guard was returning home after what felt more like a confirmation than a recruitment.
“It was more like, ‘Wait a second,’” Cronin said. “Let me tell you how everything will happen before you say yes.”
