LOS ANGELES — Mick Cronin wouldn’t share specifics regarding his formula for acquiring talent.

The UCLA Bruins men’s basketball head coach certainly dug into that bag of tricks, though, as he wooed six transfers, and a pair of four-star recruits to Westwood in the offseason leading up to his sixth year.

Cronin seemed hopeful about the influx of talent and he did offer insight into the traits which the Bruins “repelled.”

“What we don’t look for,” he said, “is the guys that just want to get paid.”

That attitude doesn’t jibe with Cronin. He knows there’s no time for that. Not for a program that values banners over any individual player.

Now don’t hear what Cronin’s not saying. In comparison to last season, Cronin said, the Bruins had an increase in resources and used it wisely, drawing touted transfers and recruits, and maintaining key returners who didn’t have dollar signs at the forefront of their agenda.

“We’re all about improving you, and getting you where you want to go, but here it’s about UCLA basketball,” Cronin told reporters at UCLA’s opening practice. “I don’t want to hear complaints because you signed up for it, you could have left, you could have gone somewhere else.”

“I didn’t put a gun to anyone’s head,” he added.

That’s the kind of wit you get with Cronin.

The newcomers are well aware of that. They’ve bought into his philosophy and understand that last season was far from the standard for UCLA and Cronin. The Bruins went 16-17, experiencing their first losing season since 2015-16, the first since Cronin was hired in 2019 — other than the COVID-19 shortened season — that ended without an NCAA tournament bid; and his second-ever losing season in 21 years as an NCAA head coach.

“An issue last year was getting the ball in the basket from anywhere,” Cronin said about the 2023-24 iteration of UCLA, which finished fifth in the Pac-12 and lost to Oregon in the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 tournament.

Scoring shouldn’t be an issue this season.

The Bruins added two guards who led their previous team in scoring in redshirt senior Dominick Harris (transfer from Loyola Marymount) and junior Skyy Clark (Louisville). Junior Tyler Bilodeau (Oregon State) and senior Kobe Johnson (USC) each averaged double-digits in scoring last season.

“Them guys can shoot the ball,” Cronin said about those four players, and in reference to freshmen Trent Perry and Eric Freeny.

He expects seven or eight different leading scorers on a game-to-game basis. Depth appears to be a strength with these Bruins, especially in the backcourt, which includes Clark, Harris, Perry, Freeny, and returning starters Dylan Andrews and Sebastian Mack. If one is cold on a given night, chances are another few have it going and can carry the load.

The depth will also allow Cronin to execute his desired defensive game plan which involves constant intensity, and sporadic full-court pressure to deter offenses.

“I like to dictate the tempo with my defense, but you’ve got to be smart. It’s hard to do that when you have to play Tyger (Campbell) 38 minutes, Dylan last year, 38 minutes,” Cronin said.

That won’t be an issue with the backcourt, this season.

There are still uncertainties with the frontcourt, though, which lost Adem Bona, a second-round draft pick by the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2024 NBA draft. Bona was second in the Pac-12, averaging 1.8 blocks per game.

Junior William Kyle III (South Dakota State) will be asked to fill that role and Bilodeau, a 6-foot-9 forward, seemed confident he could, mentioning the two have battled in the block.

“His strength poses issues,” Bilodeau said.

Cronin expects the Bruins will often feature lineups with just one big. Four-out, one-in looks with Kyle III at center, or playing 5-out with Bilodeau or Eric Dailey Jr. (Oklahoma State).

If selflessness was the primary trait Cronin sought in his additions, then versatility was a close second.

“You have to put together a team that can dance to every dance,” he said.

Where there was an air of skepticism surrounding the roster overhaul prior to the 2023-24 season, there’s a sense of confidence heading into this year.

It’s present in Cronin’s demeanor and the words of players like Bilodeau and Clark, who also spoke to reporters Wednesday, conveying that they and their teammates understand that, with the incoming talent, sacrificing playing time is expected.