Ben Howland has agreed to become the next UCLA head basketball
coach, according to several sources.
Howland interviewed with UCLA athletic director Dan Guerrero on
Sunday, and will become the eighth head coach to take the reins of
the UCLA program since legendary coach John Wooden retired in
1975.
An official announcement from the Athletics Department is
expected to come today.
According to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Howland flew to Los
Angeles Tuesday night to meet with Guerrero and Chancellor
Carnesale to finalize the deal.
A Southern California native, Howland called the UCLA position a
“dream job” last week and has long been considered the
favorite to replace Steve Lavin.
According to reports, adidas power broker Sonny Vaccaro helped
seal the deal. Howland is an official endorser of adidas, an
official sponsor of UCLA athletics.
Separate publications report that Howland expects to be paid
more than $1 million a year including incentives. Howland made
about $850,000 a year plus incentives at Pittsburgh last year, and
was reportedly offered a $1.1 million per year contract extension
through 2009 by them on Monday.
UCLA would have to pay a $700,000 buyout to Pittsburgh in order
to hire Howland, but published reports say adidas would likely pick
up part or all of that tab.
Howland led Pittsburgh to its first ever Big East tournament
title this season. They also won the Big East’s Western
Division for the second consecutive year and advanced to the Sweet
16 in the NCAA Tournament.