Ben Howland

Ben Howland knows how to rebuild a men's collegiate basketball program. He did it at Northern Arizona, again at Pittsburgh, and now he has done it at UCLA! After a two year hiatus, he led the Bruins back to the NCAA Tournament in 2005, and in 2006 coached the Bruins to the NCAA National Championship Game. He joined an elite list of college coaches who have led three teams to the “Big Dance.”

In just his third season, Howland led the Bruins to a 32-7 overall record, capturing his first ever PAC-10 Championship as a coach. As a # 2 seed in the 2006 NCAA Tournament, he took the Bruins to the Final Four and NCAA National Championship game. Coach Howland continues to build from what he and his basketball program have learned and experienced in 2006 and look forward to competing for the National Championship again in 2007.

It takes time and hard work to rebuild a program and there is not a collegiate head coach or staff in the U. S. that works harder than Howland and his Bruin assistants. At UCLA, in just his second season (2005), Howland led the Bruins to a third-place finish in the Pac-10 and a trip to the NCAA Tournament. At Pittsburgh, he took over a losing program and by his third year (2002), the Panthers were in the NCAA "Sweet 16" with Howland earning the consensus National Coach of the Year award. In his fourth season (1998) at Northern Arizona, Howland led the Lumberjacks to their first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance.

"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 proven winner on April 3, 2003 when Howland was announced as the Bruins' 12th head coach in the 86-year 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 shares with audiences the importance of building strong management teams and trusting his own ability to teach. He discusses how to learn from failure, to look for character in talent, to align the goals of individuals with the goals of the team, and to celebrate victories throughout the journey. Respected by his peers, revered by his players, Ben Howland is without question one of the great teachers and motivators in the country.

Ben Howland’s philosophies transcend college athletics to provide proven insights for individuals and organizations striving for success.

Coaching Honors

• 2006 Led UCLA to Final Four and National Championship Game
• Pac-10 Coach of the Year
• Collegehoops.net Coach of the Year Award
• Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year Award 2005
• Joins list of 28 coaches who have led 3 different teams to the NCAA Tournament 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 District 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