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
Everybody is contributing to this program, even the guys that aren't playing or don't get to play as much.
I'm impressed with all of you. You were here at 11 a.m. after leaving at 2 or 3 in the morning. You guys are tough, very hard-working. You all deserve a raise.
You know how hard it is during finals to get your mind right because you're so exhausted from studying. At practice, I'm sure guys are going to have a little mental fatigue from staying up all night cramming.
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 been great to still have the success that we've had. It's a testament to our players. Everybody has had the opportunity to step up when called upon. These guys really like each other and they play as a team. That's what's fun.
When the guy hit it out of bounds right before that, that was just a little rushed. But we actually had a little opening there for three with nobody at home but couldn't make the pass.
They take a punch and keep on going with it. It's just a testament to their toughness and their character, and to the different guys on the team that get a chance to step up.
They played really, really hard. I have confidence in our guys one through 10.
They must have eight guys who are long, athletic, bouncy and can block shots. It's like walking into a human fly swatter.
I recruit toughness. In other words, we're not going to recruit soft kids. It starts right there. I want guys that are tough. Mentally tough, physically tough. That's why we are where we are.
I'm excited about a No. 2 seed. It was well-deserved. Our guys have worked very, very hard. One of the criteria that is used is how are you playing at the end of the season.
There's things that happened in Oakland that I would assume could be magnified at the Final Four. Both guys were great at talking about the little things.
I'm proud of our guys for seizing the opportunity against Gonzaga. That gave us a chance to play another day. And now we're moving forward.
I'm kidding . These guys are great shooters.