Coach signs for $1.5 million, here to stay

UCLA has never been known to dish out massive contracts to its coaches. But in an unprecedented step, UCLA has announced a new seven-year contract for men’s basketball coach Ben Howland that is worth $1.5 million at the outset and will grow to $2 million by the 2013-2014 season.

Howland has had remarkable success in his four years at UCLA.

He has gone to two straight Final Fours, and has rebuilt the UCLA basketball program just like he did at Pittsburgh and Northern Arizona before he came to Westwood. In 2006 Howland was named national coach of the year.

UCLA sees the contract as a reward for excellence.

“Ben is certainly deserving of this commitment by UCLA,” Athletic Director Dan Guerrero said. “He is clearly one of the top teachers and recruiters in college basketball. He has re-established UCLA as one of the nation’s elite programs, as our back-to-back Final Four illustrate, and has built a solid foundation that will keep us at the forefront for the foreseeable future.”

This contract makes Howland’s salary competitive in the coaching market. He is not making as much as other big names, such as Mike Krzyzewski of Duke or Billy Donovan of Florida, but for UCLA this is a very large salary. It’s a bump of about $400,000 over the base of his previous salary, which already made him the highest-paid coach in UCLA history.

Howland, who grew up a UCLA fan, is more than pleased with his new contract.

“There is no place I would rather be coaching than UCLA,” Howland said. “This has always been my dream job. … It still is hard for me to believe that I am the caretaker of the program that coach Wooden built. UCLA is a great institution, both academically and athletically, and I am grateful to Chancellor (Gene) Block and Dan for the faith they have shown in me.

“Back-to-back Final Fours are great, but our team is looking forward to the challenge of taking the next step.”

UCLA will likely be ranked as one of the top three teams in the nation entering the season, and many publications are picking the Bruins as the No. 1 team, despite the loss of Pac-10 Player of the Year Arron Afflalo to the NBA.

“I think it’s great,” Howland said. “They deserve the recognition. (But) at the end of the day it doesn’t win any games for you. … It just puts a bull’s-eye on your chest. There will be a lot of expectations put on (the players), mostly by ourselves.”

It was for the Bruins’ consistent excellence that UCLA got Howland in the first place, and now the athletic department is paying him for the job he has done.

And for both UCLA fans and Howland himself, that is a welcome change.

Having a coach under such a long contract shows the strength of the program and is another selling point to potential recruits.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Howland said. “That’s what I tell the recruits. I’ll be here as long as they keep me.”

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