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Entering his seventh year as the Bruins' head coach in 2009-10, Howland has led UCLA to three straight Pacific-10 Conference titles (2006-08) and three consecutive Final Four appearances (2006-08).
Last year, Howland guided the Bruins to a 26-9 overall record and a 13-5 league mark to place second in the Pac-10. His Bruins have finished in the top three in the rugged Pac-10 for five consecutive seasons.
He also guided the Bruins to a school-record 35 victories in 2008. Additionally, he won more games in a three-year span (97 from 2006-08) than any other coach in UCLA history. UCLA also won the 2008 Pac-10 Tournament Championship and finished the year with an overall record of 35-4 and a 16-2 mark in the Pac-10.
He became the first UCLA coach since John Wooden to win three straight conference championships in 2008 and is the only other UCLA coach other than Wooden to earn three straight Final Four appearances. Also in 2008, Howland became one of just three coaches in NCAA Division I history to win at least 30 games in three consecutive seasons, joining Adolph Rupp (Kentucky 1947-49) and John Calipari (Memphis 2006-08).
In 2007, the Bruins went undefeated at home (16-0) and ended the season with a 30-6 overall record and a 15-3 mark in the Pac-10.
In 2006, he directed UCLA to the NCAA Championship game (for the first time since the Bruins' 1995 national title run) and to an NCAA Regional Championship. The Bruins recorded 32 victories, tying the then-school record of 32 wins set in 1995, and posted a 12-game winning streak (longest since 1997) entering the NCAA title contest. UCLA also won the 2006 Pac-10 Tournament Championship, its first Pac-10 Tournament title since 1987.
In his 16th year as a collegiate head coach (he's been a Conference Coach of the Year selection in three different leagues - 2006, Pac-10 Coach of the Year at UCLA/2002, Big East Coach of the Year at Pittsburgh/1997, Big Sky Coach of the Year at Northern Arizona) and in his 29th season of collegiate basketball (as an assistant and head coach), he's 152-54 (.738, 206 games) at UCLA, including 123-26 (.826, 149 games) in his last four seasons as the Bruins' head coach. He also has a Pac-10 record of 76-34 (.691, 110 games). Howland's career mark is 320-153 (.677, 473 games).
He garnered two National Coach of the Year honors in 2006 - the Jim Phelan Award (CollegeInsider.com) and from Collegehoops.net. Howland was the 2006 Pac-10 Coach of the Year and earned numerous other Conference Coach of the Year honors as well as being named the USBWA Dist. IX and Basketball Times All-West Coast Coach of the Year.
He has led a team to the "Sweet 16" five times in the last eight years -- Pittsburgh in 2002 and 2003 and UCLA in 2006, 2007 and 2008. Howland recorded his 50th Bruin win vs. Oregon State (Feb. 23, 2006), his 200th career win on Nov. 19, 2005, vs. Delaware State and won his 300th game in the 72-54 win over DePaul in the John R. Wooden Classic at Honda Center on Dec. 13, 2008.
After a two-year hiatus, Howland led the Bruins back to the NCAA Tournament in 2005 and joined an elite list of college coaches who have led three teams to the "Big Dance" -- 2006 UCLA (NCAA Finalist)/2005 UCLA, 2003 Pittsburgh ("Sweet 16), 2002 Pittsburgh ("Sweet 16") and 1998 Northern Arizona. Following the 2005 NCAA Tournament, there were only 28 coaches in Tournament history who had guided three different schools to the Tournament. Howland's overall NCAA record is 18-8 (14-5 at UCLA, 4-2 at Pittsburgh and 0-1 at NAU), and in 2006 he made his first trip to the Final Four as a head coach.
Howland's sound philosophies about coaching and recruiting have the Bruins pointed in a winning direction as he enters his seventh season as UCLA's head coach.
Howland and his talented staff have landed back-to-back Top 5 nationally-ranked recruiting classes. In 2009, the Bruins' recruiting class ranked No. 4 by Scout.com. The class includes five players that are all 6-foot-7-inches or taller (Tyler Honeycutt, 6-7, F; Brendan Lane, 6-9, F; Mike Moser, 6-8, F; Reeves Nelson, 6-8, F and Anthony Stover, 6-10, C). The 2008 recruiting class was ranked No. 1 in the country by many scouting services and national web sites. The class included the Gatorade National Player of the Year, Jrue Holiday, and four other top 50 players (Drew Gordon, Jerime Anderson, Malcolm Lee and a late addition in J'mison Morgan).
In 2004, the Bruins recruited the nation's No. 4 (HoopMasters.com) incoming freshman class -- led by McDonald's All-Americans, point guard Jordan Farmar and guard Arron Afflalo, along with Parade Magazine All-American guard Josh Shipp and CalHi Sports All-State center/forward Lorenzo Mata-Real.
The 2005 class featured five of high school basketball's top seniors, considered to be among the best 100 players in North America -- Alfred Aboya, Darren Collison, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, Michael Roll and Ryan Wright.
In 2006, the Bruins signed three talented players -- McDonald's and Parade All-American James Keefe, Nikola Dragovic and first-team All-CIF guard Russell Westbrook.
In 2007, Howland landed the nation's top freshman, Gatorade National Player of the Year, Kevin Love and the Los Angeles Times' Player of the Year, Chace Stanback. It takes time and hard work to rebuild a program, and there's not a collegiate head coach or staff in the United States that works harder than Howland and his Bruin assistants.
"It's nice to be recognized, but you can never rest on what you've done," Howland said. "You have to keep working, keep pushing to get better. You've got to have good players. No one understands that more than me. I hope to think every year I'm a better coach than I was the year before. You hope to always improve."
UCLA Athletic Director Dan Guerrero knew he had hired a winner on April 3, 2003, when Howland was announced as the Bruins' 12th head coach in the 87-year storied history of UCLA men's basketball.
"Ben Howland is an outstanding basketball coach, one of the best in the entire country, and he is the man we want to run our program," Guerrero said. "He has built winning programs throughout his career, and we expect that he will return UCLA basketball to the nation's elite. Ben understands that championships are built on defense, intensity, team-work and fundamentals, and those elements are the foundation of his philosophy. His teams come to play every night, and they do an outstanding job on both ends of the floor."
HOWLAND AT UCLA
Howland has demonstrated an ability to turn programs around. At UCLA, in just his second season (2005), he guided the Bruins to a third-place finish (tie) in the Pac-10 and back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2002. At Pittsburgh, he took over a losing program, and by his third year (2002), the Panthers were in the NCAA "Sweet 16" and Howland was the consensus National Coach of the Year. In his fourth season (1998) at Northern Arizona, he led the Lumberjacks to their first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance.
In 2008, Howland guided the Bruins to a No. 3 final ranking in the Associated Press Poll and a No. 4 ranking in the ESPN/USA Today Poll, a 35-4 overall record and a 16-2 Pac-10 record, winning the Bruins' third straight regular season league title and their second Pac-10 Tournament title in three years. The 35 victories were the most in school history. UCLA made its national-leading 18th Final Four appearance in 2008. Since 1975, the Bruins have advanced to 17 NCAA Regionals, including six since 2000 and nine since 1995.
In 2007, Howland guided the Bruins to a No. 3 final national ranking in the ESPN/USA Today Poll and a No. 7 ranking in the Associated Press Poll (entering the NCAA Tournament), a 30-6 overall record and a 15-3 Pac-10 record, winning UCLA's second-straight regular season conference championship and the school's 29th league title. UCLA made its 17th Final Four appearance in 2007, surpassing North Carolina for the most ever Final Four appearances.
In 2006, Howland directed the Bruins to a No. 7 national ranking (entering the NCAA Tournament), a 32-7 overall record (32 victories tied the then-school record for most wins set in 1995) and a 14-4 Pac-10 record, winning UCLA's first regular season conference championship since 1997 and good for the No. 1 seed in the Pac-10 Tournament (the Bruins won the Pac-10 Tournament, for the first time since 1987).
The Bruins' 12-game winning streak going into the NCAA Championship game was UCLA's longest since the end of the 1997 season (when UCLA's 12-game winning streak was snapped by Minnesota in the NCAA Regional Final in San Antonio). The 2006 Bruins will be remembered for their defensive tenacity, allowing opponents only 58.7 points a game overall (39 games/the fourth-lowest total in school history), including 59.3 points in conference games (18 games) and just 56.2 points in NCAA Tournament play (six games).
"Winning championships is all about defense," Howland said. "If you look every year at the Final Four, the best teams in the country always play the best defense. Holding teams to under 40 percent from the field is something that is pretty consistent among Final Four teams."
In just his second season (2004-05), Howland led the Bruins to an 18-11 overall record, winning four of the last five regular season games, and an 11-7 Pac-10 Conference mark, good for a third-place tie with Stanford. Highlights included returning to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2002; a win over nationally-ranked Washington; four come-from-behind victories in Pac-10 play when the Bruins trailed by double-digit deficits; and four players earning Pac-10 Conference honors - senior Dijon Thompson (first team), freshman Jordan Farmar (Freshman of the Year/Honorable Mention All-Pac-10), freshman Arron Afflalo (Freshman All-Pac-10) and freshman Josh Shipp (Honorable Mention Freshman All-Pac-10).
In his first season (2003-04), Howland inherited a program that in the year before, had a losing season. His first Bruin club was 11-17 overall and 7-11 in the Pac-10 (seventh-place tie). The Bruins did start the season 9-3 overall and 5-0 in league play, had wins over NCAA Tournament teams Michigan State, Washington and Vermont and advanced to the Pac-10 Tournament.
HOWLAND AT PITTSBURGH
Howland spent four years (2000-03/89-40 record) building the Pittsburgh basketball program into one of the finest in the nation. In his last two seasons (2001-02 and 2002-03), Howland guided the Panthers to an overall record of 57-11 (83.8 winning percentage ranked second nationally during that period/Pitt was 32-1 at home, including a perfect 16-0 in 2002-03 at the Petersen Events Center). The Panthers also reached the NCAA "Sweet 16" in both years and captured the 2003 Big East Tournament championship.
In 2002-03, Howland led the Panthers to a record of 28-5 and a No. 4 ranking on the final AP poll (Pitt held the nation's No. 2 ranking for eight weeks during the season). Pittsburgh earned a second straight trip to the NCAA "Sweet 16", won a second straight Big East West Division regular-season championship, and on March 15, defeated Connecticut to win its first-ever Big East Tournament title. The Panthers entered their NCAA "Sweet 16" game against Marquette with an 11-game winning streak. Pittsburgh standout point guard Brandin Knight was a member of the Wooden Award All-American team.
In 2001-02, Howland guided Pittsburgh to a school-record 29 wins, surpassing the former school record of 25 victories set in 1973-74. He became the first Pittsburgh head coach in 26 years to garner National Coach of the Year honors as he earned nine coaching awards, including the Associated Press, Naismith, Henry Iba and The Sporting News national accolades, along with Big East Coach of the Year honors. He led the Panthers to the Big East's West Division regular season championship -- the first time Pittsburgh won a Big East men's basketball title of any kind since the 1987-88 campaign. Howland then led the Panthers to their first NCAA tournament appearance in nine seasons (1992-93).
Howland also became the first Pittsburgh coach since Charles "Buzz" Ridl in 1973-74 to lead the Panthers to an NCAA "Sweet 16" appearance, with two NCAA Tournament victories over Central Connecticut State and California in 2002. Including the two NCAA Tournament wins, Pittsburgh went 11-2 over its last 13 games, with its only losses coming in a double overtime defeat in the Big East Championship title game and an overtime loss to Kent State in the NCAA "Sweet 16". Under Howland's direction, Knight earned All-America honors, along with USBWA Dist. I Player of the Year and co-Big East Player of the Year accolades.
In 2000-01, the Panthers surged through the conference tournament to earn a surprising title game berth and won five of their last seven contests. It was in Madison Square Garden in 2000-01 that the college basketball world first began to take notice of Howland and his emerging program at Pittsburgh. That year, he directed Pittsburgh on a dramatic run through the Big East Championship as the Panthers upset three higher-seeded opponents -- nationally-ranked Syracuse, Notre Dame and a surging Miami team -- to earn the school's first-ever berth in the championship game. That strong finish resulted in a National Invitation Tournament bid, its first postseason appearance in four years.
Howland arrived at Pittsburgh in 1999 with a reputation for developing great shooting teams. Not surprisingly, the Panthers dramatically improved in that regard. But Howland's real imprint on the Panthers was his team's passionate dedication to defense. As a result, Pittsburgh ranked amongst the Big East's best in scoring defense each of Howland's last two years (2002-03, 59.2/2001-02, 60.9).
Howland's influence was evident even after his first season at Pittsburgh (1999-2000/13-15 record). Under Howland's tutelage, Ricardo Greer blossomed into one of the top players in the Big East. Greer was selected by the league coaches as the Big East Co-Most Improved Player in 1999-2000 and concluded his collegiate career as a two-time All-Big East performer.
In Big East Tournament history, Howland is the winningest coach of that event (based on percentage/10 or more games). During Howland's four seasons at Pittsburgh, his Big East Tournament record was 8-3 (72.7). In his last three years (2001-03) at Pittsburgh, the Panthers advanced to the Big East Tournament title game and won the crown in 2003.
HOWLAND AT NORTHERN ARIZONA
Howland orchestrated one of the best turnarounds in NCAA history at Northern Arizona. His highly successful five-year tenure (1995-99) at Northern Arizona saw him transform the Lumberjacks from one of the nation's weakest programs into a consistent NCAA Tournament contender. In his final year (1998-99) at NAU, Howland led the Lumberjacks to a 21-8 record, its third consecutive 20+ win season.
Howland's first two teams at Northern Arizona finished 9-17 (1994-95) and 7-19 (1995-96), finishing in seventh-place each season. However, his 1996-97 squad went 21-7, set the school-record for wins and achieved the 10th best single-season turnaround in NCAA men's basketball history. Northern Arizona captured the Big Sky regular-season championship by three games and advanced to the National Invitation Tournament. Howland was named the conference's Coach of the Year.
The following season (1997-98), the Howland-led Lumberjacks advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history after capturing the Big Sky Tournament championship and second straight regular-season title. In its first round of NCAA play against No. 2 seed Cincinnati, Northern Arizona led the heavily favored Bearcats for the majority of the game before falling on a last-second 3-pointer, 65-62. On Sept. 25, 2004, Howland's 1998 Lumberjack squad was inducted into the NAU Athletics Hall of Fame.
During Howland's five-year tenure, Northern Arizona emerged into one of the country's top shooting teams. In 1998-99, NAU became the first team in NCAA history to lead the country in both field goal percentage (.523) and 3-point field goal percentage (.445) in the same season. Additionally, the Lumberjacks led the nation in 3-point shooting in both 1997 (.419) and 1998 (.430), while finishing second nationally in field goal percentage (.516 in 1997/.511 in 1998).
From 1997 to 1998, Howland's teams produced back-to-back conference titles and also consecutive Big Sky Player of the Year honorees in Charles Thomas and Andrew Mavis. Northern Arizona tied a league record for most conference wins over a two-year span (27) and ranked amongst the nation's Top 30 in wins over that same period. With Howland's success, the city of Flagstaff, Ariz., proclaimed April 27, 1998 "Ben Howland Day."
While the success of Howland's teams on the court is impressive, his programs have also produced top-notch students. In 1998, NAU was one of only two schools in the nation (Utah was the other) to reach the NCAA Tournament and record a team grade-point average over a 3.0.
HOWLAND'S CAREER AS AN ASSISTANT COACH
Prior to his Northern Arizona appointment, Howland served as an assistant coach at the University of California, Santa Barbara for 12 years (1982-83 through 1993-94). During that time, he tutored eventual NBA players Brian Shaw and Conner Henry. He also oversaw the development of UCSB's Eric McArthur, the nation's second-leading rebounder in 1990, and Gary Gray, an All-Big West Conference selection. In Howland's last seven years at the school, the Gauchos advanced to postseason play on five occasions.
HOWLAND'S PLAYING CAREER
Howland enjoyed a standout playing career at Weber State, where he was named the team's Most Valuable Defensive Player in both 1979 and 1980. He led the Wildcats to two Big Sky championships and a pair of NCAA Tournament berths.
Howland's basketball legacy of success dates back to his high school days. After beginning his prep career as a highly-decorated player at Dos Pueblos High School in Santa Barbara, Calif., he finished with two Suburban League Most Valuable Player honors at Cerritos (Calif.) High School. He was also a two-time selection to the All-California Interscholastic Federation list. His collegiate career began at Santa Barbara City College in 1975-76 and 1976-77, where he was named team captain and led the Vaqueros to the California state finals in 1978.
Following his collegiate career, Howland spent time playing professionally in Uruguay. He landed his first NCAA Div. I coaching job in the 1981 season as a graduate assistant at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Wash., where he coached future NBA Hall of Fame and Utah Jazz guard John Stockton, before moving to UCSB the following year (1982-83).
THE HOWLAND FAMILY
Howland and his wife, Kim, a former Weber State cheerleader, have two children, Meredith (24), a recent graduate from the University of Pittsburgh, and Adam (22). Howland has a bachelor's degree in physical education from Weber State University (1979) and a master's degree in administration and physical education from Gonzaga (1981).
THE BEN HOWLAND FILE
Birthdate: May 28, 1957 in Lebanon, OR
Education: Bachelor of Arts-Physical Education, Weber State University, 1979; Master's Degree-Administration and Physical Education, Gonzaga University, 1981
Date Announced as UCLA Head Coach: April 3, 2003
Education: Wife is the former Kim Zahnow; daughter, Meredith and son, Adam
Coaching Career
2003-present - Head Coach, UCLA
1999-2003 - Head Coach, University of Pittsburgh
1994-1999 - Head Coach, Northern Arizona
1982-1994 - Assistant Coach, UC Santa Barbara
1981-1982 - Graduate Assistant, Gonzaga University
Coaching Honors
2007 - NABC District 15 Coach of the Year
2006 - He garnered two National Coach of the Year honors -- the Jim Phelan Award (CollegeInsider.com) and from Collegehoops.net. Howland was the 2006 Pac-10 Coach of the Year and earned numerous other Conference Coach of the Year honors from CBS Sportsline.com, SI.com. and CollegeInsider.com, as well as USBWA Dist. IX and Basketball Times All-West Coast Coach of the Year.
2004 - Howland's 1997-98 Northern Arizona club inducted into the NAU Athletic Hall of Fame
2003- Dapper Dan Award, honoring Pittsburgh's Sportsman of the Year
2002 - National Coach of the Year (AP, Naismith, USBWA, ESPN Magazine, The Sporting News); USBWA Distritc Coach of the Year; Big East Coach of the Year; Basketball America Big East Coach of the Year; Basketball Times Big East Coach of the Year; Pittsburgh Tribune-Review City of Champions Award
1997 - Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year
Playing Career
1980 - played professionally in Uruguay
1978-80 - Weber State - named WSU's defensive MVP on two occasions; led Wildcats to two Big Sky Championships and two NCAA Tournament Appearances
1976-78 - Santa Barbara City College - led the Vaqueros to CA State finals in 1978
1974-76 - Cerritos, CA HS - two-time All-CIF; two-time Suburban League MVP
1973-74 - Dos Pueblos HS (Santa Barbara, CA)
