Three years ago, UCLA men’s basketball coach Ben Howland
did what he thinks everyone should do, particularly college
basketball recruits ““ he moved from the East Coast to the
West Coast. And in doing so, Howland has also re-established the
flagship program of the Pac-10, a conference he urges recruits to
join. “This is the greatest place in the country to live
““ the West,” Howland said. “We need to get the
message out there.” Howland, who is in his third year in
Westwood, feels the Pac-10 should make use of its facilities,
coaches and history to attract some of the nation’s top
recruits, as he and USC coach Tim Floyd have successfully done in a
short period of time. “We are clearly the best league ““
without any question ““ west of the Rockies,” Howland
said. “There are no ifs, ands or buts in any sport that you
talk about. We have to do more to take advantage of that.”
Doing so would result in a stronger conference, which Howland
believes has the potential to send at least five of its 10 teams to
the NCAA Tournament on a yearly basis. “I think as a
conference, we have to be thinking bigger than we do,”
Howland said. This has been Howland’s philosophy as a coach
at UCLA, and after seeing tremendous success he hopes to transfer
his attitude to a larger scale. “We know the expectations of
UCLA,” Howland said. “Let’s put that on the
league too, because it helps UCLA. It helps everybody.” This
year alone, the Pac-10 has had its fair share of struggles, but
several teams are on the upswing and Howland is confident that the
conference will reach his yearly goal of sending five teams to the
Big Dance. Stanford started off the year by losing several games to
subpar, nonconference teams, taking much credit away from the
Pac-10, as it was expected to finish at the top of the conference.
However, Stanford has since been on a roll, winning eight of its
last nine games and improving its chances of participating in March
Madness. Stanford’s Bay Area counterpart, California, has
also gained ground in the conference over the past year, and they
trail the Bruins by just half a game for the Pac-10 lead.
“When you look at Washington, Arizona, UCLA, Cal and
Stanford, I do expect, at the end of the day, for all of them to go
(to the tournament),” Howland said. In an ideal situation,
Howland believes the Pac-10 can mirror what several conferences on
the East Coast have accomplished, in terms of sending teams to the
NCAA Tournament. “If the Big Ten can get seven out of 11, I
expect we can get seven out of 10 at some point in the near
future,” Howland said.
MATA RECOVERING: Sophomore center Lorenzo Mata,
who suffered a broken right knee a month ago against Washington
State, is no longer constrained by a brace and has begun therapy by
jogging on a treadmill. “Right now it’s just a little
sore because I haven’t done anything (since the
injury),” Mata said. The sophomore has had to watch the
Bruins from the sideline, which he said has been almost as painful
for him as the injury itself. “I live for just being able to
play basketball and I haven’t been able to do it,” Mata
said. “I just want to get back out there.” Howland
hopes Mata will be available by the time the Pac-10 Tournament
rolls around, as he knows Mata will be a vital presence in the
paint for the Bruins. “(His knee is) healing right now, as we
speak,” Howland said. “I’m hoping he’ll be
back by the Pac-10 Tournament.”