LOS ANGELES — The wooing is over, the cash committed, the targets landed.

What could be considered the first free-agency class in UCLA basketball history — six transfers who might fill all the team's needs, not to mention as many as four starting spots — materialized in the wake of Mick Cronin's worst season in 16 years.

Never one to hold back, Cronin told his players several harsh truths after they staggered to a 16-17 record. He was the coach at UCLA. He needed to assemble the best possible team, which meant overhauling a young roster. As much as he loved his current players, who had arguably overachieved on the way to a fifth-place finish in their final Pac-12 season, he understood if anyone wanted to depart given the expected influx of transfers.

In essence, it was the jettisoning of a wait-and-win development model in favor of an infusion of proven talent. As four players left for other teams and a fifth declared for the NBA draft, the Bruins snagged some of the transfer portal's top talent, addressing deficiencies in shooting, rebounding and savvy.

How did they do it? Like any good sports franchise in 2024, they showed their targets the money.

"Our NIL grew exponentially," Cronin told The Los Angeles Times this week, referring to the team's name, image and likeness resources. "All you have to do is look at our recruiting class this year versus last year."

A year ago, the Bruins brought in seven freshmen and only one transfer. Those numbers basically flipped this offseason, with six transfers and two freshmen on the way.

The latter ratio was closer to the one Cronin wanted a year ago after bidding farewell to program mainstays Jaime Jaquez Jr., Tyger Campbell, Jaylen Clark, David Singleton and Amari Bailey but could not manage because of relatively meager NIL funds.

On the night his team lost to Cal State Northridge in December, Cronin used a baseball free-agency analogy to describe his plight, saying he had wanted to bring in veteran players.

"So did the [Cincinnati] Reds," Cronin deadpanned, "but the Dodgers got them."

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