UCLA hires Cincinnati's Mick Cronin as basketball coach

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Mick Cronin was hired as UCLA's basketball coach Tuesday, ending a bumpy, months-long search to find a replacement for the fired Steve Alford.The university said Cronin agreed to a $24 million, six-year deal.UCLA's search has been marked by a series of starts and stops since Alford was dismissed on Dec. 31. The school had never before fired a coach during the season.Cronin wasn't the first choice of athletic director Dan Guerrero, who headed a search committee that inclu