Aday Mara, a 7-foot-3 Spanish center, has broken his silence after leaving UCLA and opting to play at Michigan in his third season in the NCAA.
Spanish basketball’s great hope gave an interview to the Los Angeles Times to explain the reasons that led him to leave the Bruins after two seasons in which coach Mick Cronin did not really bet on him.
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I felt I had to change, but I didn’t want to
“It was a difficult decision to leave UCLA… Because in every game I enjoyed it, I was super happy because I saw the whole crowd cheering me on, helping me a lot. Just after two years you feel like you’ve been here a lot longer… I had expectations when I came here that I didn’t reach… Also, I felt like I was playing well, training well, training hard, trying my best and until the game against Wisconsin I never had the opportunity to show that I was able to play. And once Cronin gave me the opportunity, I saw what I could do. So those are the two reasons,” the coveted Spanish player told Ben Bolch.
It’s crazy that a 20-year-old player asks a coach not to train or play whenever he wants. I would never say that. It’s not true..
“I felt like I had to change, but I didn’t want to,” he said.
Aday Mara denies false information about his demands to UCLA: “It’s crazy”
Aday Mara took advantage of his interview in the ‘Los Angeles Times’ to deny that he asked UCLA for more money or to travel whenever he wanted to Spain or more minutes and to train whenever he wanted with Mick Cronin to stay in California.
“It’s crazy. For a 20-year-old player to ask a coach not to train or play whenever he wants, I feel like that’s crazy. I would never say that. It’s not true… If someone 19, 20 or 21 years old says that, it’s because they don’t like basketball. And I love basketball. It’s crazy, for me,” he said to make clear to disprove his supposed “outrageous demands” to UCLA published by ‘Bruin Report Online’.
Aday Mara talks about his lack of minutes at UCLA
Aday Mara, who was only a starter in one game due to Tyler Bilodeau’s injury, finished his second season at UCLA with averages of 6.4 points, 4 rebounds and 1.6 blocks in 13.1 minutes.
“I knew I wasn’t going to play much, so I went 100%; that’s why I got tired, because I knew it was going to be six minutes and if I played well, it would be 15, so I went 100% and sometimes, yes, I said: ‘I’m tired, I need to rest’, you know? But I think it’s something normal when you push yourself and play hard,” explained the Spaniard, who ended up raising his stats to 8.6 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.3 blocks in 17.1 minutes in the last 16 games.
Aday Mara: “I’m super excited to go to Michigan”
Aday Mara acknowledged that one of the main reasons he was encouraged to sign for Michigan was to see the management by coach Dusty May of big men such as Vladislav Goldin (2.13 m.) and Danny Wolf (2.13 m.), two interior players who are leaving the Wolverines this summer.
“I’m super excited to go to Michigan, to try to prove to everyone that I can play at a good level, that I can keep improving and I know it’s a Big Ten team; I’m really excited to play against UCLA,” he said.
This news was originally published on this post .
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