UCLA’s offseason splash came with a built-in warning label: Nikola Kusturica may be the biggest name to hit the program in years, but Bruins fans are being told not to expect instant fireworks.
That caution makes sense. UCLA hasn’t exactly been setting the postseason on fire lately, failing to get past the second round of the NCAA Tournament in each of the past three seasons.
So when a Serbian star like Kusturica arrives, it’s easy for hopes to spike fast. He brings real talent on both ends of the floor, and the kind of upside that could change the feel of this roster in a hurry.
But this is also a brand-new college stop for a player who hasn’t logged a minute for the Bruins yet. Going from Serbian basketball to college basketball in Los Angeles is a major adjustment, and that transition is exactly why patience matters.
Mick Cronin is already trying to get ahead of the hype. Speaking with CBS’s Jon Rothstein, he made it clear he wants the expectations tempered while Kusturica settles in.
"My thing is, hey, baby steps...the Serbian kids that I've had...they're ingrained in basketball. It's all they know. And their culture is not like ours.”
“I think I've got to protect him though because he's coming to a place where everybody wants your blood, and the minute you don't have a great game, they're going to pick you apart. You've got to give a guy a chance, leave the guy alone, let him do his thing. He's gonna have ups and downs.”
That’s the message for UCLA supporters, too. This roster has plenty of new faces, and the speed and chemistry won’t be built overnight. Practice helps, but a lot of that connection only shows up once the games start and the live situations force everything into focus.
So if the Bruins don’t look polished right away, that shouldn’t be a surprise. There’s enough talent here for UCLA to get where it wants to go - it just may take a little time to get there.
In Other News...
LSU Gets An Early Shot With A Quarterback Recruit Fans Will Watch
Four-star quarterback Josiah JoJo Boyd is already shaping up to be one of the more closely watched names in the 2028 recruiting class, and UCLA is set to get a look in his early round of game day visits. The California prospect has lined up four trips, including stops at USC and LSU, as well as an important date with Oregon on Sept. 18, giving him a chance to compare campuses, atmosphere and fit as his recruitment starts to take shape.
Boyds list of suitors is still wide open, and the visit schedule is the clearest sign yet that he is taking his time before narrowing anything down. For the Bruins, getting him on campus in this stretch matters because it gives them a chance to stay in the conversation with a quarterback the staff will want to keep seeing as the process moves forward. [Read more 🡒]
UCLA Fans Got Their First Real Hint About Nico And This Offense
Fall camp scrimmages are starting to offer a first real glimpse of what UCLA can expect from Nico Iamaleava, and head coach Bob Chesney has liked what he has seen so far. Chesney said the quarterback has shown strong command of the offense and a good feel for reading defenses, encouraging signs for a team trying to build something new around him.
The next step is less about what Iamaleava can already do and more about how quickly he can settle in with a receiving group that is still getting acquainted with him. UCLA is also being careful with how much he runs right now, even though that remains one of the most important parts of his game, so the Bruins are still easing into the full version of what this offense could become. [Read more 🡒]