Why Ben Howland remains grateful long after | College News

Ben Howland deliberate it like this. Of course he did.

This was a coach so engrossed in particulars that he would grumble about the room temperature at information conferences and call a timeout when his crew was in the center of a large run just so that he might set up his protection.

So it ought to come as no shock that before his 10-year run as UCLA’s basketball coach ended in 2013, Howland had schemed for his dream retirement.

In 2011, he purchased a four-bedroom, ranch-style home in his native Santa Barbara close to so many elderly mates and household, realizing the complete rework job would take years. The Howlands moved in three years in the past, after the coach’s remaining season at Mississippi State.

The home is now his departure level for frequent journeys to see one other outdated pal — this system he guided to back-to-back-to-back Final Fours from 2006-08. Howland likes to depart many hours before tipoff, arranging his schedule so that he can go to mates or match in a physician’s appointment.

He just lately realized that he was only sooner or later youthful than former Bruins star ahead David Greenwood, who died earlier this month from cancer.

“It’s sobering, you know? Sixty-eight now seems young,” Howland mentioned between bites of a Tuscan chicken sandwich inside the Luskin Center on the campus that once served as his basketball home. “But there’s always something. You’ve got to make sure you’re on top of your colon and your prostate, and that’s one of the reasons I come to UCLA for all my doctor appointments.”

The outdated coach remains close to a number of retired docs he’s recognized for a few years, including Jean B. DeKernion, the previous longtime chair of UCLA’s urology division, and Bennett Roth, the gastroenterologist who established the college’s endoscopy unit.

Perhaps no one at the college can put a smile on his face like the present basketball coach. Mick Cronin and Howland have recognized each other since the previous helped run Sonny Vaccaro’s ABCD Camp in the Nineties, going on to forge a friendship rooted in mutual respect.

There’s so many similarities between the coaches, from their demanding practices to their relentless defenses to their wry senses of humor to their lack of hair to their admiration for issues that are troublesome but worthwhile.

“Coaching’s changed and I can still appreciate Mick because he comes from the old school and what he’s doing is no different than what [Bob] Huggins and [Rick] Pitino did as he’s working for them and watching these guys, who are both Hall of Famers, two of the greatest coaches ever,” Howland mentioned.

“And because you’re demanding — I mean, I think my players always knew at the end of the day that I loved them and was trying to get the most out of them, I’m trying to push them to be their very best, but as long as they know that you really love them and care about them and you want what’s best for them most of all, then they respect that and I think he does that.”

A daily at UCLA practices and video games, Howland typically comes alone and different instances brings his spouse, Kim, and some mixture of kids Meredith and Adam and grandsons Benjamin, Elijah, Asher and Abraham.

“I really enjoy it,” Howland mentioned of coming to video games at Pauley Pavilion. “I mean, I’m a fan too. I was yelling like crazy during that Wisconsin win. I’m telling you, I was so pumped up; that was such a great win, really, really exciting because they were good and you knew how important that game was. The same thing with the Michigan State win, that was an incredible win.”

During his first 12 months of retirement, Howland acquired a standing ovation during a timeout when he stepped onto the court as an honorary captain. Fans who acknowledge him during video games bathe him with appreciation, telling him that he did a great job or they actually love him or they treasured his decade-long run at UCLA that was the longest by any Bruins coach since John Wooden’s 27-year reign ended in 1975.

Legendary basketball coach John Wooden, proper, sits next to then-UCLA coach Ben Howland during a information convention at Honda Center in December 2006.

(Christine Cotter / Los Angeles Times)

Howland mentioned he agreed with those who imagine the college ought to honor its Final Four groups with a banner inside Pauley Pavilion alongside those that acknowledge national championships.

“I mean, in this day and age, it’s incredibly difficult to, No. 1, get to the Final Four,” Howland mentioned, “and we can’t be arrogant to where we don’t recognize that.”

Maybe the sport that will get talked about most in any dialog with Howland is the comeback from 17 factors down against Gonzaga in the Sweet 16 of the 2006 NCAA match. In the ultimate seconds, with his crew trailing by only one, Howland may very well be seen in entrance of the UCLA bench mimicking the protection he wished his gamers to apply, waving his arms wildly.

Cedric Bozeman and Jordan Farmar complied, trapping J.P. Batista in the backcourt before Bozeman knocked the ball free. Farmar grabbed the ball and threw a lob to teammate Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, whose layup put UCLA forward with 9.2 seconds left. In an even more exceptional show, Mbah a Moute tackled the ball at midcourt to drive a leap ball, giving the Bruins possession on the best way to an eventual 73-71 triumph.

“That’s incredible — I’ve never seen that,” Howland mentioned of Mbah a Moute’s heroic protection. “The best thing about it was the whole idea that you never stop, you keep fighting the entire time until the clock is at 0:00.”

The clock ran out on Howland’s time at UCLA after a season in which the Bruins received the Pac-12’s regular-season title but misplaced in the first spherical of the NCAA match. The coach whose admiration for UCLA went back to watching Wooden’s first national championship in 1964, held a farewell information convention to convey his gratitude.

“It was a real blessing to be here,” Howland mentioned, “and I wanted to leave taking the high road, doing it the right way.”

By that level, a narrative had emerged that Howland had modified his methods, forgoing the type of grinders such as Mbah a Moute and Lorenzo Mata-Real who had fueled his early success in favor of more prolific scorers. Howland disagreed, mentioning that he left alternative Steve Alford with 5 eventual NBA gamers — Zach LaVine, Norman Powell, Kyle Anderson, Travis Wear and Jordan Adams — upon his departure.

UCLA coach Ben Howland prepares to discuss to his gamers during a timeout against Washington in December 2010.

(Katie Falkenberg / For the Times)

Having been supplied a job by a Big Ten faculty — he received’t say which one — during his second-to-last-year at UCLA, Howland remained a coveted coach. He agreed to go to Mississippi State in 2015, ringing a cowbell at his introductory information convention and getting to know quirky soccer coach Mike Leach. (“He loved the microphone, loved to be on camera, very funny,” Howland mentioned of the late Leach.)

Yet the recruiting challenges in rural Starkville, Miss., made profitable far more troublesome than it was in Westwood.

“Kids aren’t growing up saying, ‘I always wanted to be a Mississippi State Bulldog’ like they do a Bruin,” Howland mentioned.

The Bulldogs went to one NCAA match in Howland’s seven seasons, shedding in the first spherical, though they had been on the bubble during a COVID-19-shortened 2019-20 season that ended after that they had secured a double bye in the Southeastern Conference match. The faculty dismissed him in March 2022.

The timing proved fortuitous in that it allowed Howland to come home and spend two years with his mom before she handed away. Other household remains close by. Howland’s son, Adam, is a deputy district attorney based mostly in Santa Barbara and his daughter, Meredith, is a nurse who lives in Valencia. A granddaughter is anticipated to arrive in October.

Howland mentioned he misses the relationships with his gamers and assistants, not to point out the practices and video games. But outdated mates abound. He just lately went to a Dodgers sport with Mata-Real, and a number of hyperlinks to his time at UCLA stay on campus. Doug Erickson is the do-everything director of basketball administration, Chris Carlson an affiliate athletic director, Kenny Donaldson a senior affiliate athletic director and Alex Timiraos the director of athletic communications.

“I hired Kenny as our academic coordinator,” Howland mentioned. “Now he’s [athletic director] Martin Jarmond’s right-hand guy, along with Chris.”

The present UCLA gamers would possibly as effectively be Howland’s given his glowing reward. Consider his takes:

On switch level guard Donovan Dent: “Boy, to have him coming in here as the point guard next season, it’s such a critical element.”

Donovan Dent is among the new gamers on coach Mick Cronin’s UCLA roster for the 2025-26 season.

(David Richard / Associated Press)

On switch large man Xavier Booker: “I watched him in our game here [against Michigan State]; I was like, who’s that guy? I liked the way he moved, I liked his athleticism. He just needs minutes. I think Mick will get a lot out of him to help his team.”

On returning ahead Eric Dailey Jr.: “He had big games in big games. He’s just got to consistently bring that, but he’s only a junior.”

Howland acknowledged being “heartbroken” that heart Aday Mara transferred to Michigan on the cusp of a big season after two years of development under Cronin.

“They had done such a great job of bringing him along,” Howland mentioned, “and he was finally going to really have the kind of year that he’s capable of this year. I think he’ll be heartbroken that he’s not here come this next season.”

One man who could be counted on to be there at large video games for the foreseeable future is a face acquainted to a era of UCLA followers, clapping wildly, his coronary heart full, a Bruin until the top.