Truth & Rumors > NCAAB
First-round loss starts clocking ticking on Ben Howland
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07:19 AM ET 03.23 | It wasn't so much a goodbye wave as a slap in the face. After 10 years of professionally serving a university he loved, Ben Howland was ushered out with two hours of everything he hated. Selfish shots. Lazy defense. Blank stares. In what was probably Howland's final game as a UCLA basketball coach after a decade of giving the program class and dignity and three Final Four appearances, his players gave him nothing. "Do you think you've coached your last game as UCLA coach?" he was asked. "No comment," he said. Dan Guerrero, UCLA athletic director, also refused comment, but the message seems clear. All indications are that Howland, having missed the Sweet 16 for the fifth consecutive year, will soon be bought out of his contract by UCLA administrators who believe that the basketball program would benefit in a change of culture much like the football team last fall. Officials agree that Howland is still a great coach, but they also feel his style has reached its shelf life, and that he's being tuned out not only by current players and potential recruits but also by fans who rarely filled up new Pauley Pavilion.
Ben Howland, Getty Images
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Comments (12) Add A Comment
Ben Howland will be fired and Jaime Dixon, of Pitt, will become the coach at USC so that he won't have to coach against his friend and mentor. Dixon has west coast ties and his wife is a USC grad.
bluesuiter
Total Comments (1528)
Good thing those jobs pay so much.
50yearfan
Total Comments (11199)
Seeing how pitt tanked in the tourney (again), I think Dixon would be a terrific hire in Westwood.
ICEnSoCal
Earthquake Central, CA
Total Comments (1677)
I hate to make any excuses, but UCLA really wasn't all that good this year!!! They were a solid team, but when they lost Adams in the PAC 12 championship game it really destroyed the team!!!
The Oldtimer
Total Comments (23236)
ICE, good point!!! IMO, I don't think Howland will be fired!!! Hell, he had three freshman (Adams, Anderson and Muhammad) on the team this year.
The Oldtimer
Total Comments (23236)
How about the HC at Kansas State, Wisconsin, Georgetown, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Missouri, and Notre Dame??? Are they going to get fired, because of an early exit in the Tournament? How about Calipari at Kentucky?? Didn't they just lose in the first round of the NIT???
The Oldtimer
Total Comments (23236)
Tournament play really tests the coaching staffs.
There is limited if any ability to scout the opponent so you have to scout, analyze and make adjustments very quickly during the game.
The coaches who do that better win even with lesser caliber talent.
Dolemite censored
Total Comments (18834)
Totally agree!!!
The Oldtimer
Total Comments (23236)
dixon is not leaving pittsburgh.
man o war
Harrison City , PA
Total Comments (654)
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