Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Mick Cronin sounds off on Big East realignment and defection of Catholic 7, says players should get paid

Mick Cronin

With his Cincinnati program stuck in limbo after the defection of the Catholic Seven from the Big East Conference Saturday, coach Mick Cronin sounded on and subjects and frankly expressed his feelings toward realignment. He took time after his team’s win over Marshall to do so.

“I don’t blame them,” Cronin said of the departures, as reported by the Cincinnati Enquirer. “It’s a shame that football, one sport, has dictated all this and the money that one sport apparently is swinging around and swaying universities to make the decisions. We’re sitting here in a state where the state school is 800 miles from its closest road game. It’s ridiculous. Don’t tell me that people care about student-athletes.”

In defending his players, he continued.

“Lost in the shuffle in all this is our volleyball team, our soccer team, Marshall’s tennis team,” Cronin said. “It’s all ridiculous. Let’s call it what it is. I’ve thought about this long and hard and I’ve waited to say this. If it’s all about this much money and money grabbing, the players need to get paid.”

Cronin is the latest in a line of NCAA critics who have called for players to get paid, an idea that has seemed to gain popularity in recent years. But, with the win Saturday over Marshall, his team is undefeated and one of the top teams in the Big East.

For that reason, Cronin said, it is important to keep the focus away from realignment and more so on the basketball court.

“The only thing I can do for our university is do what we’re doing now: keep my guys focused and continue to show that we have an elite basketball program,” he told the paper. “It’s a shame that that’s the news instead of our team.”

Daniel Martin is a writer and editor at JohnnyJungle.com, covering St. John’s. You can find him on Twitter:@DanielJMartin_