Ben Howland Position: Head Coach Experience: Ninth Season Alma Mater: Weber State, 1979

Midway through his ninth season as UCLA's head coach in 2011-12, Ben Howland became the program's first coach since the late Coach John R. Wooden to win three straight Pac-10 Conference championships (2006-08) and is the only head coach other than Wooden to have led the Bruins to three straight Final Four appearances (2006-08).

Howland entered the 2011-12 season with a 189-83 record in eight previous years as UCLA's head coach. He has led the Bruins to NCAA Tournament appearances in six of eight seasons with the Bruins.

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).

Most recently, Howland guided UCLA to its sixth NCAA Tournament appearance in the last seven years during the 2010-11 campaign. The Bruins posted a 23-11 overall record, including a 13-5 mark and second-place finish in the Pac-10. UCLA advanced to the NCAA Tournament's third round with a 78-76 second-round victory over Michigan State.

UCLA missed the NCAA Tournament in 2009-10, snapping a streak of five consecutive tournament appearances, after going 14-18 overall and 8-10 (T-5th) in the Pac-10.

Howland guided the Bruins to a 26-9 overall record and 13-5 league mark and second-place finish in the Pac-10 in 2008-09. His Bruins have finished in the top three in the rugged Pac-12 Conference in six of the last seven 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 that season with an overall record of 35-4, including a 16-2 mark in the Pac-10.

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.

Howland has been a Conference Coach of the Year 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.

Now in his 31st season of collegiate basketball (as an assistant and head cocach), he's gone 357-181 in 19 seasons as as college head coach.

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 District IX and Basketball Times All-West Coast Coach of the Year.

Howland has led a team to the "Sweet 16" five times, including three times at UCLA (2006, 2007, 2008). He recorded his 50th Bruin win against 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 19-9 (15-6 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 ninth season as UCLA's head coach. Howland and his talented staff have landed three consecutive top-15 nationally-ranked recruiting classes (2008-10). Howland's 2008 recruiting class was ranked No. 1 in the country by many scouting services and national websites.

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 2007, Howland landed the nation's top freshman, Gatorade National Player of the Year, Kevin Love.

"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'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 Division 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 (27), a recent graduate from the University of Pittsburgh, and Adam (25). 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).