ROSEMONT, Ill. – UCLA senior Eric Dailey Jr. and junior Trent Perry 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.

Dailey Jr. and Perry, two key players on UCLA’s team last season, were joined by head coach Mick Cronin, who is entering his eighth season as The Michael Price Family UCLA Men’s Head Basketball Coach. Dailey Jr., Perry and Cronin participated in multiple interviews with media members on Thursday, in addition to taping promotional videos that will be used throughout the college basketball season by the conference’s national broadcast partners.

Thursday’s event in Chicago marked UCLA’s third appearance at Big Ten Men’s Basketball Media Day. The Bruins will play a 20-game Big Ten schedule this season, with a pair of early-season league games against Oregon and Washington on Dec. 1 and Dec. 13, respectively. The remaining 18 league games will take place after the New Year.

UCLA went 24-12 overall last season, going 13-7 in Big Ten action – tied for sixth place in the league standings. The Bruins advanced to the NCAA Tournament’s second round, defeating No. 10-seed UCF in the opening round before losing to No. 2-seed UConn in the second round.

“You talk about Big Ten basketball, it’s hard, very hard,” Coach Cronin said during his half-hour podium session with media members. “It’s just hard to win. You have really great players, great coaches and great road environments. The actual games are hard. The guys in this league play hard. It’s a bunch of big, strong and tough guys. It’s certainly not for the weak. And really, it’s the depth of our conference. In our conference, those teams from eight through 13 could play in the NCAA Tournament. It’s not easy to get a win, but it’s really easy to get off the tracks in this league. You play in a league that’s this good, this deep, it’s hard to find an easy week where you might have three games that you can win and get your confidence back. It’s really easy to get knocked off track, and you’ve seen it happen the last couple of years.”

UCLA will open with a pair of home exhibition games later this month. The Bruins will host Cal Baptist on Wednesday, Oct. 21, before taking on San Diego on Tuesday, Oct. 27. Both of those exhibition contests will take place at 7 p.m. (PT) at Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom Financial. The two contests will be streamed live through Big Ten Plus (B1G+).

The Bruins’ 32-game regular season will open against Arizona in Las Vegas, at T-Mobile Arena on the night of Monday, Nov. 2. UCLA and Arizona will play in the second game of a men’s basketball doubleheader at T-Mobile Arena. UCLA’s game is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. (PT), televised on TNT, truTV and HBO Max.

PRESEASON ALL-BIG TEN
UCLA junior guard Trent Perry was selected as one of 11 student-athletes to the preseason All-Big Ten Men’s Basketball Team, as announced by the conference office on Tuesday, Oct. 6.

Perry, a 6-foot-4 guard from West Covina, Calif., averaged 12.6 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game in 35 contests last season. He will enter the upcoming season having played in 67 games (24 starts) over the past two years at UCLA.

Joining Perry on the preseason list of honorees include Elliot Cadeau (Michigan), Jeremy Fears Jr. (Michigan State), David Mirkovic (Illinois), Trey McKenney (Michgan), John Mobley Jr. (Ohio State), Pharrell Payne (Maryland), Rodney Rice (USC), Pryce Sandfort (Nebraska), Andrej Stojakovic (Illinois) and Nolan Winter (Wisconsin).

Both Fears Jr. and Sandfort were unanimous selections to the 11-person list. In addition, Fears Jr. was recognized as the league’s preseason player of the year.

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 20 home games (including the two exhibition contests) are now available by clicking here. For more information about tickets, fans are encouraged to call UCLA Athletic Sales & Service at (310) 206-5991 or via email at tickets@athletics.ucla.edu.

The Bruins’ complete 2026-27 men’s basketball schedule is available here.