2025-26 Big Ten basketball season preview: UCLA Bruins

With the start of college basketball season in early November, Inside the Hall is taking a team-by-team look at the Big Ten and a player-by-player look at IU basketball’s roster.

Today, our team previews continue with UCLA.

Previously: Penn State, Rutgers, Minnesota, Northwestern, Washington, Nebraska, Maryland, Iowa, Wisconsin, Oregon, USC, Michigan State, Ohio State

Despite a four-game losing streak in early January, UCLA rebounded down the stretch and won 13 Big Ten games in its inaugural season in the conference.

The Bruins finished with a 23-11 record, earned a No. 7 seed in the 2025 NCAA tournament and advanced to the round of 32 before falling to Tennessee.

Mick Cronin will mix a strong returning cast with a few key transfer portal additions to form one of the Big Ten’s most formidable rosters entering the 2025-26 season.

The departures of Dylan Andrews and Sebastian Mack, who both entered the transfer portal, made finding guard help a necessity for Cronin. He went out and got one of the best players available in New Mexico transfer Donovan Dent.

The 6-foot-2 lead guard was dominant last season for the Lobos, leading the program to the NCAA tournament and a win over Marquette in the opening round. Dent had 16 KenPom game MVPs last season, which tied for sixth in the country. He averaged 20.4 points, 6.4 assists, 2.3 rebounds and 1.4 steals in 35.3 minutes per game.

Dent, a 40.9 percent 3-point shooter last season, also shot 78.4 percent from the free-throw line. His assist rate was 23rd in the country. Not many guards in the country can strike the balance between scorer and facilitator like Dent, which makes him a strong candidate for All-Big Ten first team honors entering the season.

He’ll likely be joined in the starting backcourt by Skyy Clark, a senior guard who averaged 8.5 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.7 assists last season. After beginning his career at Illinois and then playing at Louisville in the 2023-24 season, Clark has found a home in Westwood. He shot 39.7 percent on 3s last season and as a combo guard, should fit nicely alongside Dent.

UCLA also returns sophomore guard Trent Perry. The 6-foot-4 Perry, a former McDonald’s All-American, gained valuable experience last season as a freshman and his role should increase significantly with the transfers of Andrews and Mack. Perry averaged 3.7 points in 11.3 minutes per game last season while shooting 34.3 percent on 3s.

Redshirt freshman Eric Freeny, a 3-star recruit in the 2024 class, could also crack the guard rotation. The Bruins added a veteran guard from the portal in Kansas City transfer Jamar Brown, who averaged 17 points and shot 40.2 percent on 3s last season. Brown earned All-Summit League second team honors last season.

On the wing, 6-foot-8 junior Eric Dailey Jr. will shift to his more natural position. Dailey averaged 11.4 points, four rebounds and shot 37.8 percent on 3s last season in 23.5 minutes per game. Dailey Jr. often played out of position last season for the Bruins and will be a matchup problem at the three for most Big Ten opponents.

Redshirt sophomore forward Brandon Williams redshirted last season after averaging 3.1 points and 2.2 rebounds as a freshman for the Bruins in the 2023-24 season. At 6-foot-7, he’ll provide forward depth behind Dailey Jr.

Tyler Bilodeau, a 6-foot-9 senior, is UCLA’s leading returning scorer. While he struggles defensively, Bilodeau is one of the most versatile frontcourt players in the league offensively. He can shoot the 3, knock down midrange jumpers and score at the rim against smaller defenders. The Washington native averaged 13.5 points, 4.6 rebounds, 1.5 assists and shot 40 percent on 3s last season.

Cronin will likely have a platoon at the five with Michigan State transfer Xavier Booker and San Diego transfer Steven Jamerson II.

Booker’s career never took off at Michigan State after entering college as a top 10 prospect nationally in the 2024 class. The 6-foot-11 Booker, now a junior, runs the floor well but tends to drift to the perimeter and hunt 3-pointers. While Booker can make that shot, UCLA will try to utilize him more as a rim-running five who can block shots and finish plays at the rim.

The 6-foot-10 Jamerson, a redshirt senior, averaged 10 points and 7.8 rebounds last season while shooting 55.7 percent from the field. If Booker doesn’t get the job done on the glass, Jamerson will.

North Carolina Central transfer Anthony Peoples Jr. is a likely depth piece at best, has size at 6-foot-9 and averaged five points and 2.4 rebounds.

Defense is a non-negotiable for Cronin and the Bruins rode their defense last season to 23 wins. UCLA had the nation’s 14th-best defense according to KenPom.com and was fifth nationally in turnover percentage. The formula will be the same this winter but the upside should be higher offensively with the addition of Dent.

Bottom line: The Bruins are a preseason top 10 team in Bart Torvik’s projections and will have one of the nation’s best guards in Dent. After missing the NCAA tournament in 2024, Cronin got things back on track at UCLA last season and should take another step forward this winter. On paper, the Bruins have a second weekend team and a roster capable of contending for a top-four league finish.

Quotable: “He’s an All-League player for a reason. He’s definitely showing us what he’s going to bring to the table this year for us. And honestly, it’s the same thing we have seen when we played against him. … We know what he can do, and we know why he’s here, and we know what we need him for.” – Dailey Jr. on Dent and what he can bring to UCLA this season.

(Photo credit: UCLA Athletics)

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