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 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.
It means something. These kids are playing for themselves. But we're also playing for the program. They represent those four letters. It's a very special fraternity.
I told them just basically what was announced. I got a little emotional. But that didn't affect our performance.
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 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.
It's been frustrating, because we haven't been able to stay healthy. We've had one practice the entire year where we've had all 12 scholarship players healthy. But that's part of the game.
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.
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.