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
We had lost two straight games, and we needed this one. There was not even a remote thought of looking past this team.
Coach is always there at the home games, sitting behind our bench. What was accomplished by John R. Wooden . . . will never, ever be seen again at the college level. They won 38 straight NCAA (Tournament) games in a row at one point . . .
Coach watches every game. I knew that and embraced it. He's the greatest coach in the history of basketball. What he did in college basketball will never be repeated. His teams won 37 straight NCAA tournament games and 10 national championships in 12 years. You know how everyone wants to be like Mike -- Michael Jordan -- as a player? Every coach wants to be like John. So I don't feel a shadow. I embrace it.
I thought they were terrific. They did an outstanding job of dealing with our press. We were trying real hard.
Last time I checked, Larry Brown started in college, for example, and he might be one of the top coaches.
I saw him at Nike camp. He played hard. He was under the radar.
I see it as a momentum thing all the way. We're going to feed on that win. We're going to feed on that emotion.
Well, I tried to guard him. That's the key. We played mostly half-court, so it was easier to hold, grab and foul as opposed to when you've got Johnny between the top of the keys. Once in a while when that happened, it was over for me.
Our team is definitely playing its best basketball right now. If you look over the course of the last eight games, we've really been playing great defensive team basketball.
I thought Jordan did a great job late in the game. My expectation is for Jordan to be aggressive and look to go to the basket, but he made some great plays on the defensive end.
I'm so happy for our guys. Any time you win a championship it's special.
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.
Just so you know, our goal is to not let you ram it down our throat.
Jordan went down to visit Florida, and they did a great job on the visit. His host was (current Grizzly player Anthony) Roberson, and he loved him. He had a really good relationship with Roberson. So when he came back, he was really leaning that way.