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
I think our team embodies the spirit of what Coach is all about, which is teamwork, which is unselfish play, which is a commitment at both ends of the floor to play together, team defense, team offense, giving yourself up for your teammates. As we continue to win, they all get recognized.
This team never, ever gets affected by it. They just continue to battle back. There's nothing that they haven't seen in terms of adversity that's going to bother them.
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.
This is what they've worked so hard for, to get a chance to continue to play. We've got our work really cut out for us in playing one of the top teams in the country in Gonzaga.
I have the best two guards in the country on the same team. I will continue to say that because I believe it, and I don't say things I don't believe.
The formula we're using is not new. It has been set. Our team embodies the spirit of what (Wooden) is all about, which is teamwork, which is unselfish play, which is team defense, which is giving yourself up for your teammates. As we continue to win, all of that gets recognized.
We feel very, very fortunate to move on to the next round.
We hit some tough shots. It was a night of tough shots.
It was another outstanding job defensively. In the second half, we did a much better job of getting to the line and getting fouled.
The very best players are my kind of players.
Florida was terrific. Credit Billy Donovan. They were really well coached. They did an excellent job handling our pressure.
Florida has a great offensive team. It really is going to be a big challenge for us to be able to try to defend such skilled players and good passers. Everybody can shoot it.
Five should be average; four is a disappointment.
There's so much parity. And the margin of difference is so slight.