Ben Howland

Ben Howland was born in Lebanon, Oregon and played his high school basketball at Dos Pueblos High School in Goleta, California. During his prep career he was named Suburban League MVP twice and earned a scholarship to play at Santa Barbara Community College. After earning his associates degree he transferred to play Weber State College and earned his undergraduate degree in physical education. In 1981 he turned his focus to coaching and joined the Gonzaga University coaching staff as a graduate assistant. Upon graduating with his M.Ed. from Gonzaga he was hired on at UC Santa Barbara, where he spent the next 12 seasons. In 1994 he got his first head-coaching job at Northern Arizona and went on to lead his team three consecutive 21 win seasons from 1996 to 1999 with two Big Sky Conference Championships. In 1999 he was hired as the new head coach at Pittsburgh and continued his success, leading the Panthers to consecutive NCAA Sweet Sixteen appearances in 2002 and 2003 with two Big East Conference titles. From 2003 to 2013 he served as the head coach at UCLA and led the Bruins to three consecutive 30-win seasons from 2005 to 2008, which included a National Runner-Up finish in 2006 and two Final Four appearances in 2007 and 2008. His teams also won three Pac-10 Regular Season titles in 2006, 2007 and 2008.