Men's Basketball Attends Big Ten Media Day in Chicago
October 10, 2025 | Men's Basketball
ROSEMONT, Ill.ย โ UCLA seniors Tyler Bilodeau and Skyy Clark served as the student-athlete representatives at Big Ten Men's Basketball Media Day on Thursday, hosted in the Chicago area at DES Convention Center adjacent to O'Hare International Airport.
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Bilodeau and Clark, two central figures on UCLA's team last season, were joined by head coach Mick Cronin, who is entering his seventh season as The Michael Price Family UCLA Men's Head Basketball Coach. Bilodeau, Clark and Cronin participated in a variety of interviews with media members on Thursday, in addition to taping multiple promotional videos for use by the conference's national broadcast partners.
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Thursday's event in Chicago marked UCLA's second appearance at Big Ten Men's Basketball Media Day. The Bruins will play a 20-game Big Ten schedule in 2025-26, with a pair of early-season league games against Washington and Oregon on Dec. 3 and Dec. 6, respectively. The remaining 18 league games will take place after the New Year.
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UCLA posted a 23-11 record last season, going 13-7 in Big Ten action (tied for fourth place in the league standings). The Bruins advanced to the NCAA Tournament's second round, defeating No. 10-seed Utah State in the opening round before losing to No. 2-seed Tennessee two nights later.
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"At this time of year, it's hard to get cohesive if you don't have a lot of guys available," Coach Cronin said, speaking about preseason practices and preparation for exhibition games. "Practice becomes so important because you are trying to install your offense. Everybody is built on multiple transfers, so it's not like a lot of these guys have been playing together for two years. It's important to have guys out there, and fortunately we have been able to get a lot done."
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UCLA will open with a pair of exhibition games in the next two weeks โ a game at San Diego State on Friday, Oct. 17, and a home matchup with UC Irvine on Tuesday, Oct. 28 (in Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom Financial). UCLA's exhibition game next Friday evening at Viejas Arena is slated to begin at 7 p.m. (PT). The Bruins' regular-season schedule tips off on Monday, Nov. 3, against Eastern Washington in Pauley Pavilion.
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"As you turn the heat up, you will find out how guys respond," Coach Cronin said. "I mean look, everybody looks good in the summer. Every coach loves his team. So now you get to a point where soon enough, like with us, you'll be going up against San Diego State on the road. Good luck scoring, so I try to put our team into tough situations. That's about trying to deal with reality. Our team is older and that was done by design. The portal has allowed for coaches to go get older players, more experienced guys. That is what we've tried to do. If you look at our additions from the portal, it's older guys. And sure, it's to be seen how we will respond individually against adversity โ and adversity is a good opponent. As a group, who will we respond? Nowadays, everyone has to come together and become a team in a short period of time. Guys have to show leadership and be resilient, and we'll see on those things. We've brought in older guys who we think are of high character, and those guys tend to be great teammates and steer through adversity."
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Last season, Bilodeau earned third-team All-Big Ten Conference honors, as selected by the league's coaches. Clark led the Bruins in three-pointers made (48) and was second in 3-point percentage (39.7 percent) behind Bilodeau (40.0 percent).
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Bilodeau has played in 97 career games, making 78 starts, through three seasons โ his first two at Oregon State and last season at UCLA. Clark enters his fourth collegiate season and his second year at UCLA, having played in 76 games (74 starts). Bilodeau, a 6-foot-9 forward from Kennewick, Wash., led the Bruins in scoring last season (13.5 points per game). He shot 49.6 percent from the field and a team-best 40.0 percent from beyond the 3-point arc.
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Clark averaged 8.5 points, 2.8 rebounds per game and 2.7 assists per game, competing in all 34 games for UCLA last season. A 6-foot-3 guard from Los Angeles, Clark shot 45.8 percent from the field and 39.7 percent from 3-point distance.
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PRESEASON ALL-BIG TEN
UCLA senior guard Donovan Dent was selected as one of 10 student-athletes to the preseason All-Big Ten Men's Basketball Team, as announced by the conference office on Tuesday, Oct. 7.
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Dent, a 6-foot-2 guard from Riverside, Calif., averaged a team-leading 20.4 points and 6.4 assists per game as a junior last season at New Mexico. Dent transferred to UCLA in the summer of 2025 after having secured honorable mention AP All-America acclaim last spring. He was honored as the 2025 Mountain West Player of the Year and earned first-team all-league honors.
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Purdue guard Braden Smith has been named the conference's preseason Player of the Year, as the sole unanimous selection on the preseason all-league team.
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In addition to Dent and Smith, the preseason All-Big Team includes Iowa's Bennett Stirtz, Michigan's Yaxel Lendeborg, Northwestern's Nick Martinelli, Ohio State's Bruce Thornton, Oregon's Nate Bittle and Jackson Shelstad, Purdue's Trey Kaufman-Renn and Wisconsin's John Blackwell.
UCLA'S TICKET INFORMATION
Season ticket packages for UCLA's upcoming men's basketball season are available. Fans can call (310) 206-5991 or email tickets@athletics.ucla.edu for more information. Single-game tickets for the team's non-conference home games will be available later this month. For more information about tickets, call UCLA Athletic Sales & Service at (310) 206-5991 or via email at tickets@athletics.ucla.edu.
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