and it looks like he's going to, I think the interesting thing to look for is how Cronin handles him.
The kid needs to get stronger. He's going to have some sort of learning curve ahead of him. He probably isn't going to be able to play defense on Cronin's level. He's going to make a lot of mistakes.
Will Cronin hold true to form and pull the kid when he makes mistakes? Is he going to sit him until Cronin can trust him? Or has he learned the lessons of the Mara saga and give the kid, and maybe everyone else in turn, a longer leash?
Because Mara was such a game changer, I thought Cronin needed to bite the bullet, loosen up, and keep Mara on the floor playing through his mistakes. I don't know if Kusturica is going to be that kind of game changer - probably not, at least in the beginning - but he could prove valuable on the floor enough to justify keeping him on the floor.
I do hope Cronin adjusts and bends a bit. I think that would benefit everyone in the long run and be better for the UCLA program moving forward. Cronin needs to repair his local AAU/high school connections and his national image and loosening up the strings could be a huge first step toward all of that IMO.