UCLA basketball: Ben Howland denies DePaul rumor

The following story was posted on ESPN.com today:

Theus a candidate at Auburn, UCF
By Pat Forde
College Basketball Nation Blog, ESPN.com
March, 24, 2010 Mar 24 5:53PM ET

Former New Mexico State and Sacramento Kings coach Reggie Theus interviewed with Auburn Tuesday night about its coaching vacancy, a source told ESPN.com.

Theus and University of North Texas coach Johnny Jones are considered prime candidates for the job, but are not the only names being bandied about. UTEP head coach Tony Barbee is also considered a very serious candidate.

Theus also is a possibility at Central Florida, as is former Alabama coach Mark Gottfried and others. Gottfried has had his name come up in connection to the jobs at Houston and Charlotte as well.

DePaul has also been mentioned as a potential landing place for Theus, but there has been a rotating array of names there. The biggest: UCLA's Ben Howland, rumored to be offered a whopping, multiyear deal.

Editor's note: Early Wednesday evening, Howland responded to ESPN.com with the following: "I am the coach at UCLA. I will never leave UCLA and will stay at UCLA as long as they will have me."
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UCLA basketball: Ben Howland denies DePaul rumor
Chris Foster
The LA Times
March 24, 2010 | 3:40 pm

UCLA basketball Coach Ben Howland said that Internet rumors, picked by ESPN and fan websites, that he was headed to DePaul are false.

A source with ties to the UCLA athletic department said that he had received no indications that Howland was entertaining offers from other schools.

Internet scuttlebutt began circulating Wednesday afternoon that Howland had been offered a hefty multi-year contract.

"I am the coach at UCLA," Howland said. "I will never leave UCLA and will stay at UCLA as long they will have me."
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Howland says DePaul rumors untrue
Updated: March 24, 2010, 11:11 PM ET
By Ramona Shelburne
ESPNLosAngeles.com
Archive

UCLA men's basketball coach Ben Howland, reacting Wednesday to a rumor tying him to the coaching vacancy at DePaul, says he has no plans to leave the Bruins.

"I am the coach at UCLA. I will never leave UCLA and will stay at UCLA as long they will have me," Howland said in statement released by the university.

Howland has been on the recruiting trail every day but one since UCLA's season ended on March 12 (and the one day he missed was because he had food poisoning), according to sources close to the program.

ESPN reported earlier Wednesday that Howland had been rumored to be offered a multiyear deal by DePaul.

Aside from the statement released by the school, Howland told the Sporting News he has "zero interest" in the DePaul job. He went on to say any reports of him being interested in DePaul were "absolutely unfounded, untrue -- 100 percent unequivocal."

Howland, who could not be reached for further comment Wednesday, was as disenchanted as anyone about the Bruins' subpar season. And based on his recent workload, he seems determined to turn it around.

The other reason Howland probably isn't planning to leave UCLA any time soon?

In 2008 he signed a seven-year contract extension that escalated his salary from $1.97 million in 2008-09 to $2.3 million a year until 2014-15.
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DePaul Apparently Has Dreams of Ben Howland as Their Coach

By Larry Brown, Larry Brown Sports | March 24, 2010 - Posted in College Basketball

Commotion has exploded around the UCLA basketball scene today amidst reports that DePaul University has thrown major bucks at current Bruins coach Ben Howland. DePaul is making it known that they’re willing to pay for a high-quality coach. The Blue Demons endured four losing seasons in five years before firing coach Jerry Wainwright mid-season en route to a 8-23 season. They were 0-18 in Big East play two seasons ago and went 1-17 in conference this year so they’re obviously looking for major improvement. Though Howland could move to Chicago and position himself to become the savior once again, keep in mind that DePaul hasn’t won more than 22 games in a season for 25 years; their potential for greatness is low and nowhere near UCLA’s. In essence, I treat this story similarly to the way I view St. John’s efforts to woo Billy Donovan by offering him $3 million a year — it’s a nice dream but it won’t happen. While I’m dismissing the notion that Ben Howland will leave for DePaul — he’s already unequivocally denied interest — I’m not dismissing the notion that Howland has reasons to be dissatisfied at UCLA.

One reason Howland could be less enchanted by Westwood could be the amount of negative press he has received this year, from me included. It doesn’t take a genius to realize that going to another reclamation project would relieve pressure and put Howland in position to be a hero again. The second reason is that Howland is vastly underpaid for the type of coach he is. According to most accounts, Howland makes less than $2 million per season which is comparative peanuts for a coach who’s been to three Final Fours. It’s possible that Howland could be interested in being paid a greater salary, but then Howland would no longer be coaching at his “dream school.”

Lastly, would UCLA fans be OK with Ben Howland leaving based on the poor season? To me, the answer is the same any time a team fires a coach or is contemplating letting one leave: is the replacement a better coach than the predecessor? As frustrated as I’ve been with Howland’s coaching the past few years and even at times during the glory seasons, I’d still want Howland as my coach for the next two seasons over most others. Here is my initial limited list of guys I’d take as the replacement were Howland to leave: Tom Izzo (never going to leave MSU), Roy Williams (ditto Izzo), Bill Self (same thing), Bruce Pearl, Thad Matta, and Scott Drew. I don’t know who else could be available (e.g. former NBA coaches), but I’m trying to maintain perspective. I also say Ben Howland should have two more years to get things back to normal before we think about new coaches. Believe me, I would have been more forgiving had they never redone the season ticket system and demanded massive donations. When you demand that kind of cash from your fans you should be held accountable for producing a winner.