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
Obviously, we're real pleased to get the win. That was a great finish for us. It's really just a testament to the character, the toughness, the heart of our players to have the never-quit attitude. I'm really, really proud of them.
My heart sunk watching Steele even get a shot off.
What I think it's done is made us better. This team has gone through more adversity in terms of injuries than any team I've ever heard of, ever been a part of, for sure.
It's a testament to the character, toughness and heart of our players and their never-quit attitude.
I really wanted to do this because I want our players to get the tradition and the history. They hear about it. They see it. They read about it. But the best way to feel it is to know the players and the coach himself.
In competitive athletics, you have to deal with the next set of circumstances. There's always adversity; we have had a lot more than our fair share. But you just have to fight through it. That's just the way it is.
I'm kidding . These guys are great shooters.
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.
They've got really good quickness and push the ball well. They force a lot of turnovers with their pressure.
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.
This is like going into a human fly-swatting machine.
I'm indebted to them forever. They have helped start something we think is very special.
I mean, come on. That is very, very unfair of him to characterize his team like that after the kind of year they've had and some of the quality wins they've had.
I'm glad we got that win. That's a tough, hard-nosed team that came in determined to beat us on our home court. We were fortunate to come away with a victory.