Top 50 Ben Howland Quotes

If you went and did a microscopic investigative report at Kentucky, Kansas, Duke, Carolina, Indiana – what are you talking about? You’re always going to have some stuff come out that will be looked upon as not being good.

Putting your feet in ice cold water? That’s not fun.

I wear Johnston & Murphy, not penny loafers.

My first introduction to Russell Westbrook was as a leader. It was pretty impressive.

It’s a real advantage in basketball to have great hands.

You should want to run if you’re a player, shouldn’t you, on offense?

I watch a lot of games and analyze a lot.

I just try to control what I can control.

We need to play tough defense and have a sound offense. But mostly, we have to outrebound the other team.

I’m a good person and a good guy.

Northern Arizona was a job no one had ever survived, and a lot of people said I was crazy to take it. But to build a program and win there gave me a lot of confidence when people said we couldn’t do it at Pitt.

You’re not going to see Bill Walton or Kareem coming in every three years. Those days are over. That’s what makes the job so difficult. But it’s the dream job for anyone who has spent a career in coaching and has a sense of what UCLA means.

You can never blame somebody for wanting to go home.

This is UCLA. The expectations are higher here than anywhere. The amount of success both in terms of championships and wins as well as success off the floor has been second to none in college basketball. I knew that when I took this job. I know the expectation level, and no one has higher expectations than I do.

One of the very best things about being a coach or student-athlete at UCLA is if you need medical attention, you won’t find any better place in the country than at the incomparable UCLA Medical Center.

I’m a good coach. I do the right things for my players, and I try to support them; I try to help them almost to a fault.

That’s AAU ball. That’s what you do: ‘I want to get out there first and score.’ You see it in games during the summer. There are not a lot of great blockouts going on.

It’s very painful to lose, and it’s a very difficult process to go through, especially at a place like UCLA where the standards are very high.

I don’t know where people got that I didn’t have a good relationship with my players. I’m demanding, yes; I’m on their butt. I expect 100%, but they all knew I loved them, I cared for them, and I’ll always be there for them.

At UCLA, there will always be high expectations. That’s why you want to play here or coach here.

I don’t get to fish that much, believe me.

The summer in Arizona is too hot.

How many people do you know who love their jobs? Did your dad love his job? Was he passionate about it? Because I am. I love it. I love the relationships. I love teaching. I love the competition. I love everything about it.

It still comes down to attracting players, and UCLA can attract players as well as any place in the country.

It’s hard to get a job. There are more lawyers within a five-mile radius of wherever you’re sitting than there are Division I jobs.

I was raised to believe you are supposed to love everybody.

My wife and I – her more than me – are really strong Christians. Her whole life revolves around studying the Bible, Bible study, after-school Bible class she does for little kids on Wednesdays, teaches Sunday school.

I always had great respect for the SEC with all the great players.

Archie Miller does a fantastic job at Dayton.

I always think I put more pressure on myself than I feel from anywhere else.

You’re only as good as your next game.

My team at Pittsburgh is the greatest example of unselfishness and giving of oneself. They bought into that, and it’s brought those kids championships, and it’s brought all those kids so much glory.

Kevin Stallings has been a picture of consistency at Vanderbilt.

I had a relationship with John Wooden. I spoke at his memorial service.

This is always one of my big pet peeves is that 65% of NBA players, three years out of the NBA, are broke. I mean, so, maybe maturing a little more on the front end and getting an education might serve you well down the road.

It’s amazing, as a player and as a coach, how you always remember the tough losses better than the victories. They’re just way more vivid.

Field-goal percentage is very important.

I try to be honest. I try to take the high road. That’s all I can do.

No one is perfect. I would never claim to be that person.

UCLA will always be involved with great players, and those players always draw scrutiny. That’s just the way it is.

Winning, to me, is relief; losing is like dying. It’s gut-wrenching.

What is the NCAA going to do a program if a kid leaves before two years. You can’t control it. The NBA is the one that has to control it.

One thing I’ve always prided myself on is understanding that to have success, you have to have high-character kids.

Pittsburgh is a football town.

There’s no question that I’ve made mistakes along the way when you look at recruiting in terms of evaluations of players or character in an instance or two.

I’ve had a number of kids in the NBA that I’ve coached and a number of other great players that I’ve coached.

I get to work with the best and the brightest at UCLA. We get to recruit great kids, and that makes coaching very fun for me.

I know I’m a really good coach.

I love to visit New York, but Los Angeles, to me, is a great city.

You try to stay as even-keel as possible; obviously, it’s always more difficult when you’re going through a tough season.