Stunner... :poop:

Yahoo! Sports broke this one on Twitter, by the way

This wasn't surprising. The past four years have been rough in Westwood.

I told someone this a while ago. John Calapari at UCLA just wouldn't be fair. With that said I'm glad he's happy at UK.

Howland had that run with UCLA where they went to three consecutive Final Fours (2006-2008), finishing as national runner-up in 2006. His teams were 97-17 during that three year stretch.

 

How did things fall apart?

He lost control and then he lost the confidence of the administration. Bill Walton>Ben Howland.

He lost control and then he lost the confidence of the administration. Bill Walton>Ben Howland.

^this, he has been on him for a while

You wonder if this is the move Mark Few makes. He obviously can coach, but the Gonzaga program seems to have hit a ceiling.

This job coming open sure was bad timing for USC.

If I am UCLA, I go to either Brad Stevens or Shaka Smart and have them fill in the blanks on the contract. This isn't UCLA's normal m.o., though. They normally try to do things on the cheap.

You wonder if this is the move Mark Few makes. He obviously can coach, but the Gonzaga program seems to have hit a ceiling.

 

I'm wondering the same.

Few, Stevens and Smart. I'd love to see who they picked from those three finalists.

Smart would be great for UCLA. Smart has a ton of teams east of the Mississippi to compete with on the recruiting trail. Imagine what he could do with his pressing style and the UCLA brand.

Uh oh....

 

MT @goodmancbs UCLA statement: Contrary to multiple media reports, UCLA has not fired MBB coach Ben Howland

Was just watching SportcenterU, Andy Katz as much as said Howland was gone without flat out saying it. Katz also said that he knew the UCLA AD was really high on VCU coach S. Smart.

I wonder if UCLA fired Howland or did Bill Walton :lol2:? Walton has been trashing Howland all season, brought it up everytime that I watched UCLA and Walton was calling it.