UCLA head coach Mick Cronin made one promotion and two additional hires official Tuesday as the Bruins rounded out their assistant coaching staff.
Nate Georgeton moved up to an assistant role, while Nemanja “Yogi” Jovanovic and Brendyn Taylor are the new names who will join Cronin and assistants Darren Savino and Rod Palmer on the bench for the 2023-24 season.
“Nate is a 24/7 worker who has great communication skills and loves to coach and recruit,” Cronin said in a release. “We need his youth, passion and drive on the recruiting front. He has earned this promotion and I believe in him. I am very excited to add Yogi to head up our international recruiting and help mentor our current roster of diverse backgrounds. He comes highly recommended by people who I trust and respect, including Ivo Simovic. Yogi worked with Larry Brown while on staff at SMU and we have crossed paths many times. He’s a perfect fit for our staff and style. Brendyn is an up-and-coming young coach from Los Angeles who grew up in a basketball family and loves to mentor young players. We are all about player development, on and off the court, and Brendyn will have a major impact as both a coach and role model for our young players in the program. We are excited to bring him back home to L.A.”
The Bruins had a void to fill when Simovic left the program after one season to become an NBA assistant for the Toronto Raptors.
In addition, the NCAA Division I Council voted in January to allow men’s and women’s basketball staffs to add two additional assistants.
Georgeton was previously UCLA’s director of student-athlete development. His duties included assisting the coaching staff with video analysis and overseeing postgame video edits, practice film and scouting assessments.
Georgeton also has managed recruiting databases and schedules.
He is entering his fifth year with the program after graduating from Cincinnati and joining UCLA as a video coordinator in 2019.
While at Cincinnati, Georgeton served as a student manager and primary video coordinator on Cronin’s staff during the 2018-19 season.
Before the official announcement, Georgeton was put to work and attended the FIBA U18 European Championships in Serbia from July 22-30. He was there to watch and bring back expected 2023 UCLA signee Aday Mara, who helped lead Spain to the silver medal.
In an appearance last Friday on the “Petros and Money” radio show, Cronin said one of the new hires would have international recruiting ties that would allow the Bruins to continue their growing presence overseas.
Jovanovic spent seven seasons as an assistant coach at Southern Methodist (2015-22), in addition to his most recent stop at DePaul (2022-23). He also has 12 years of experience coaching in Europe, with stops in Denmark, Serbia, Spain and Sweden.
Jovanovic originally signed on to be an assistant coach at Texas-Arlington in late April for the upcoming season before UCLA came calling. He will serve as the Bruins’ director of international recruiting.
Taylor will take on a player development role with the staff. A greater Los Angeles native, he spent the previous two seasons as a graduate assistant at St. John’s in New York.
