UCLA MEDIA RELEASE
UCLA and men’s basketball coach Ben Howland have agreed on a seven-year contract, athletic director Dan Guerrero announced Tuesday.
The new contract, which runs through the 2014-15 season, includes guaranteed compensation of $1.97 million for the 2008-09 season and escalates to $2.3 million for the 2014-15 season. It also includes the incentive package from his previous contract that has a maximum value of $235,000.
In 2007-08, UCLA set a school record for victories en route to a mark of 35-4 and a third consecutive Final Four appearance. Since the NCAA Tournament bracket expanded to 64 teams in 1985, UCLA is one of just four schools to earn three consecutive Final Four berths (Michigan State in 1999-01 was the last to do so). UCLA has also won three consecutive Pac-10 titles, making Howland the first Bruin coach since John Wooden to win three straight league championships, and two of the last three Pac-10 postseason Tournaments.
Howland is also one of just three coaches in the history of college basketball to win at least 30 games in three consecutive seasons. He has also produced four NBA first-round draft choices in the last three seasons, including the fourth and fifth selections in the 2008 draft.
