UCLA did not comment on the search yet, but Abdul-Jabbar would be a very intriguing candidate. Howland was fired after 10 seasons with the team and the decision followed a bad loss to Minnesota in the NCAA tournament. Howland went to three straight Final Fours at one point, but the team has not made a deep run in a number of years.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Abdul-Jabbar has expressed interest at replacing the recently fired Ben Howland and the coach of the Bruins and on Wednesday he said he could like to be considered as a replacement. The star played for legendary coach John Wooden and won three championships in college as well as six NBA title and six MVP awards while also holding the top spot as the all-time scoring leader.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is one of the greatest NBA players of all time and as a former UCLA Bruin, he has strong ties to how the basketball team performs, which is one reason why he has thrown his hat into the ring as the next possible coach for the squad.
"Like all Bruin supporters," Abdul-Jabbar said, "the recent trend at our school hasn't made me happy. The players don't seem to be learning how to play, and haven't been graduating. We can do better."
The 66-year-old said he "reached out" to school Athletic Director Dan Guerrero and said that he hopes he gets a chance to make his case as a possible candidate. Although he has no top level coaching experience, he did coach the Oklahoma Storm of the U.S. Basketball League to a title 10 years ago.
"That didn't get on many people's radar," he said, "but it gave me a great idea of what to do in most situations."
