Eric Dailey Jr. and Trent Perry are not going to stand for any reported mischaracterization of former UCLA teammate Aday Mara’s exit from Westwood.
Dailey and Perry, who both met with the local media Wednesday evening following an on-campus NIL store grand opening event at Ackerman Union, came to the defense of the 7-foot-3 sophomore center in the first public comments from the Bruins since the transfer to Big Ten foe Michigan.
“We love Aday, we’re always going to love Aday. Mara-mania was a thing this year,” Dailey said. “He’s a great guy. Everybody’s got to do what’s best for them, we completely understand that. It’s no bad blood. We love Aday. It was his birthday after he left, we gave him hugs.”
Mara, who many expected to move into a starting role next season, officially entered the transfer portal April 1 in a bit of a surprise move.
After the Bruins lost to Tennessee in the second round of the NCAA tournament, Mara returned to his native Spain to spend spring break with his parents.
Upon return, according to Bruin Report Online, negotiations with the program fell through because of alleged demands by Mara that included the ability to dictate his own practice schedule and substitutions out of games, among other things.
Mara took to his Instagram account shortly after the March 31 report, posting to the social media platform’s story feature a black backdrop with the words “tired of lies” in white font and an accompanying emoji of an annoyed face with a slanted, diagonal expression.
Mara then told the Los Angeles Times his side of the story in an exclusive 1-on-1 interview published Sunday.
“It was a hard decision to leave UCLA,” Mara told the L.A. Times via FaceTime.
“I feel like that’s crazy. For a player who is 20 years old asking a coach for not practicing or playing whenever he wants, I feel like that’s a crazy thing.“
Perry took issue with the original report’s account of events and the image it created of Mara.
“Aday’s a great human being,” Perry said. “A little personal opinion, I just don’t like how that his persona, the media talking about how he’s a bad person and that he’s asking for way too much. Aday’s a great player. I don’t believe he asked for anything, at all. He wanted to come back but he had to do what’s best for him, and I just don’t want the media to portray him like that.”
Mara averaged 6.4 points, 4.0 rebounds and a team-leading 1.6 blocks in 13.1 minutes off the bench. The back half of the season, in particular, had strong moments including a career-high 22 points in an 85-83 home win over Wisconsin in late January.
However, Bruins head coach Mick Cronin cited a combination of Mara’s conditioning and a norovirus illness that contributed to inconsistent minutes in Big Ten play.
Ten days after entering the portal, Mara committed to Michigan.
The 2025-26 schedule has yet to be released. But after the Wolverines traveled to Pauley Pavilion this past season, it’s likely that the Bruins will next see Mara in Ann Arbor.
