Ben Howland
Ben Howland
Benjamin Clark Howlandis an American college basketball coach for the Mississippi State Bulldogs and former player. He served as the head men's basketball coach at Northern Arizona University from 1994 to 1999, the University of Pittsburgh from 1999 to 2003, and the University of California, Los Angelesfrom 2003 to 2013. Howland became the first men's coach in modern college basketball history to be fired shortly after winning an outright power-conference title. He is one of the few NCAA Division I...
ProfessionCoach
Date of Birth28 May 1957
CityLebanon, OR
It's that magic third year. That's the plan. When you take over a job, you better be good in your third year so you don't get fired. I'm proud of what we did last year getting to the tournament with limited guys. We had four guys on the perimeter playing down the stretch. Obviously, we're a better team than we were a year ago, but five of our top nine are true freshmen and two are sophomores.
It's really exciting to watch how he's developed. He's very, very athletic. He takes great pride in being so bright out there and knowing everything he's supposed to do.
It's unbelievable how it's all worked out, most of all with these four letters on my chest.
The normal fan out there has no idea how hard they work and how committed they are to the academic side.
That's the best defense we played all year.
That's one of the things I think that you're going to continue to see, the George Mason run. I think they had three players that were fifth-year seniors. It's such an advantage to be older than your opponent both mentally and physically, and to have that experience of having gone through the ups and downs.
I've had more injuries with this team than I've ever had in my 25 years of coaching. (Almost) all our minutes are from underclassmen now.
It was a great second half. I can't wait to watch that again. We came out and played with passion.
It was a great win. I'm excited for our team. In the first half we forced 13 turnovers. Our defense was so active. It was misleading. Arizona shot 58 percent. It's astounding they can shoot 58 percent and lose. Usually, you win when you shoot a percentage like that.
The biggest benefit, more than anything that we're excited about, is that the families of our players are able to get here relatively easier.
It's good to see him getting close to where he feels real healthy again.
It's just a credit to our players. Hey, they just roll with the punches. That's just a testament to their toughness and their character.
It's a testament to the character, toughness and heart of our players and their never-quit attitude.
It was brutal. I was uncomfortable just standing there . . . And the kid is playing like you can't believe, just the fundamentals.