Mick Cronin stumbled upon recognizable territory again Tuesday night after a messy home loss to Michigan State. He sparred with a reporter over asking what amounted to a sensible question and banished his own player to the locker room — a self-administered penalty that felt less strategic than it did personally symbolic. The self-inflicted ejection fits a familiar pattern. 

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​By Friday morning, the apology felt unavoidable — laced with cynicism. He opted for levity with an NIL opportunity quip for his dejected guard, which did little to change the tone of the week or shift the broader conversation.  Of course, it didn’t. 

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​It’s hard to know how much this will haunt Cronin during the recruiting process in a landscape fueled by transfers and unhappy parents.  The optics certainly won’t age well, and the eruption speaks to the long-term viability of irritable college basketball coaches in a modern era. 

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I suspect Cronin will survive this by the familiar path that he's navigated during the rest of his tenure.  He’ll surely win just enough to keep John Wooden comparisons far, far away—that middle ground has a long history, and it rarely confuses itself with banners.