Ben Howland Exits Exile

Ben Howland, Scott Strickland

Ben Howland spent two years in exile after he was dismissed by UCLA in 2013, just five years after coaching the Bruins to a third straight NCAA Final Four.

Howland had it going in Westwood during the Kevin Love, Russell Westbrook era, more so than any coach since the late John Wooden.

But he discovered, like so many other UCLA coaches to follow in the footsteps of Wooden, patience in short demand in Los Angeles, where the Show time Lakers with Magic and Kobe became that standard by which all high school, college and NBA teams in SoCal were judged. Entitled Bruins’ fans, who watched their teams hang 11 nationol banners in Pauley Pavilion between 1964 and 1995, want to be regular visitors to the Final Four..

Howland’s last few years at Westwood were a bitter struggle. The NCAA investigated the recruitment of Shabazz Muhammad and Kyle Anderson and Muhammad was eventually being suspended for three games. Compounding the problem was a 2012 Sports Illustrated story that painted UCLA player Reeves Nelson as a bully on and off the court, who at times intentionally tried to injure his teammates. The article stated that Howland looked the other way and did not discipline Nelson for over two years. Both UCLA and Howland disputed the story, some as untrue and others as beyond the knowledge of the program.

Howland was fired the next year, despite winning the Pac-12 regular season title. He spent the past two years as a television analyst with Fox.

“There’s no question we made a couple mistakes there at UCLA at the very end,” Howland said. “One thing I’ve always prided myself on is understanding that to have success you have to have high-character kids.”

Howland was considered toxic immediately after the firing. He wanted the Marquette job.when it opened last year and would have taken either Tennessee or Missouri if either were offered. He would have settled for Washington State or Oregon State, but no one of that happened.

Howland slowly started to doubt whether he would get another shot at the profession. Mississippi State in out of the way Starkville turned out to be his salvation. The Bulldogs, who has had recent success in football under Dan Mullin, want to become more of a factor in the SEC’s upgraded West division and AD Scott Stricklin hired Howland as a replacement to Rick Ray, who was fired on Saturday after a 37-60 record over three seasons, including a 15-44 mark against SEC competition. Ray, a former Clemson assistant, apparently was a cheap solution until something better came along.

Mississippi State is no longer the poor sister in the SEC. The Bulldogs have benefited from ESPN TV money and the SEC formation and are willing to spend money to build a successful program. Stricklin did not turn long to make a decision. He called Howland last weekend and the two met in Atlanta on Monday to work out the details of a four year deal that will play Howland an average of $2.05 million annually, the the longest allowed by state law in Mississippi.

Howland “was hungry, and ready to get back into coaching,” Stricklin said. “I was really surprised he was still on the market and I wanted to take advantage of that.”

Howland has been successful on the court everywhere he has coached at the Division I level. In 19 years. He coached Northern Arizona to a pair of league titeles with under the radar players. He coached Pitt to a pair of Sweet 16s by recruiting tough, hard nosed kids out of the streets of New York City before coming home ot Southern California, where he coached UCLA to 10 NCAA appearances and produced 18 NBA players, convincing his players they could succeed by playing a structured style of offense and man to man defense.

He was the ultimate disciplinarian before the program developed cracks and local stars began to leave when they felt they couldn’t weren’t getting enough individual freedom to promote themselves. Between 2008 and 2012, 17 players left UCLA with eligibility remaining, some to enter the NBA draft early but the majority to transfer to other schools. Especially damaging were the departures of all-conference talents like Chace Stanback (UNLV), Drew Gordon (New Mexico) Mike Moser (UNLV) and Joshua Smith (Georgetown). Constant roster turnover, fractured relationships with Los Angeles area high school and AAU coaches and a string of mediocre recruiting classes created a downward spiral. Although Howland did leave on a high note, the Bruins also missed the NCAA tournament twice in his final five years and failed to make it out of the opening weekend the other three times.

In the end, UCLA decided it was time to make a clean break. Unlike other coaches who has crossed the country to stay in the business, Howland should not have any problems making the transition to his new surroundings. Howland was born in Santa Barbara, but he has won at both Flagstaff and Pittsburgh– which aren’t exactly around the corner. before taking a job in L.A.

Starkville will be a challenge, but it is not a mountain Howland can’t climb because he is a good tactical coach. When Howland was introduced to the sounds of several hundred cowbells rung by Bulldogs’ fans, Mississippi State paraded the great Bailey Howell up to the stage with him. Howell, a 2,000 point scorer, led Mississippi State to an NCAA appearance in 1963, the year the Bulldogs made a statement about civil rights snuck out of town under the cover of darkness to play Loyola in a second round game at Michigan State. That was over 50 years ago. Howell went in to play for the Boston Celtics where he was selected to the Naismith Hall of Fame. “He ruined a lot of my summers,” said Howell, who was a die hard Lakers’ fan growing up.

It will be up to Howland to restore those memories of Bailey Howell. Mississippi State hasn’t had a first round draft pick since 1997. The Bulldogs’ last NCAa appearance was in 2009. Their only Final Four appearance was in 1995 under Richard Williams.

But at least, Howland knows it has happened before.

The 57-year old Howland has four seniors on the 2015-16 roster, led by Craig Sword, a second-team All-SEC selection. He has yet to meet with MSU’s 2015 signees, but plans to soon. The 2002 Naismith Coach of the Year is scheduled to meet with Quinndary Weatherspoon, the Bulldogs’ top signee, on Thursday.

Howland has yet to announce a staff. He’s expected to hire Korey McCray, a former LSU assistant coach. McCray has recruited Malik Newman, the top player in Mississippi, since his freshman season. McCray, a former coach with the Atlanta Celtics, a AAU power in the South, worked with Howland at UCLA as well. Newman’s father played for Mississippi State. Newman is a McDonald’s All American who was the MVP of the US 16 and 17 and under national teams that won gold medals in international competition.

Howland is one the biggest names to surface on the coaching carousel so far. But there is a growing number of new faces with NBA connections who should also make a dent. Former Georgia Tech and NBA star guard Mark Price just took over at UNC-Charlotte and Eric Musselman, who coached both golden State nd the Kings and most currently served as an associate head coach at LSU, took the Nevada-Reno job

Of that group, Howland seemed the most desperate to get a second chnce. He knows what he lost.

Leave a comment