The UCLA Bruins had a solid year after winning the Pac-12 conference regular-season title, but the performance of the team over the previous seasons and a disappointing loss in the NCAA Tournament trumped that as the school decided to fire coach Ben Howland.
According to ESPNLosAngeles.com, UCLA has decided to dismiss Howland after 10 seasons with the team, athletic director Dan Guerrero said Sunday. Howland led the team to the Final Four in three straight seasons a few years ago, but since then, the team had a number of disappointing years before winning the Pac-12 regular-season title this season. Howland's final game was an 83-63 loss to Minnesota in the NCAA tournament round of 64, which saw the Gophers advance against Florida.
Howland got the news on Sunday after the loss and the Bruins finished the year 25-10 behind some stellar play from freshman Shabazz Muhammad. The embarrassing loss against Minnesota was likely too much for the school to bear, as they were hoping for a strong run to help Howland save his job.
"As I looked at the entire program and where we were -- especially headed into the next year which is obviously where we need to look at this point in time, I felt that now was the appropriate time to make the decision to make a change and to get a fresh start," Guerrero said.
Howland went 233-107 during his time with the team and he won four conference titles while leading the team to three Final Four appearances. The past few years were hard on the Bruins, as they missed the NCAA tournament twice and had a losing record two years ago while winning just two NCAA postseason games since 2008.
The Bruins were hoping to advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time in five years and now the team has eluded the top 10 rankings since 2008. The Bruins were hurt by an injury to Jordan Adams, who was one of the best all-around players on the team. Adams was injured in the Pac-12 tournament against Oregon and the team appeared to desperately need him in the loss to Minnesota.
