Ben Howland To Mississippi State, A Look At His Transition From LA To Starkville

Ben Howland is the new coach at Mississippi State, and good for him. It is the first coaching job he has had since he was let go by UCLA at the end of the 2012-13 season. Howland took UCLA to three street Final Fours, had a 233-107 record and captured four conference titles. So why was he fired?

Well Mississippi State fans, you are getting a great defensive mind here, but you are also getting quite a complicated one.

Make no mistake, Ben Howland had changed UCLA for the better when he took over in 2003. He changed the basketball culture to that of a tough-minded team with grind-it-out players. With both recruiting and development, he took UCLA to another level.

UCLA Bruins

Unfortunately, things went south after his Final Four appearances. Towards the end of his tenure Howland had not come close to the early success he had in Westwood. There were recruiting missteps, players leaving early (for various reasons), roster mismanagement and accusations of favoritism (does that sound familiar at UCLA fans?) which had started his downfall.

There was also an embarrassing Sports Illustrated expose that did not help his situation.

The point is, things got out of control for Howland at UCLA and even though he landed Kyle Anderson, Jordan Adams, Tony Parker and Shabazz Muhammad for his final season, Howland lost the support of much of the UCLA fan base by that time. That was evident when he was fired after a first-round loss in the 2013 NCAA tournament.

So does that mean Mississippi State made a mistake in hiring Howland? Oh my no, quite the opposite.

Mississippi State just landed a very good coach who WILL turn their program around.

There is a reason to get excited, Mississippi State fans.

Look, Ben Howland is a good man and a great coach, he was just in over his head by the end of his time at UCLA. With having the last two years off, there is no doubt that Howland has had time to evaluate his situation which includes looking to improve himself as a coach. Going forward, I do not believe he will have the same issues or tread over the same mistakes that occurred at UCLA.

Sure, Ben Howland may come off as irritable, but there is a method to his math madness. He may not be a “player’s coach”, but he is one hell of a coach’s coach. One that teaches tough, suffocating defense.

With that being said, expect a lot of slow games, Bulldog fans. Oh yeah and forget about 100-point games, those are a thing of the past. Though it’s not the most exciting brand of basketball, expect Mississippi State to start shutting down teams in the SEC. It will take some time, but I can almost guarantee Howland will have his team playing an entertaining form a basketball… that is led by the defense.

What do I mean by that? Check out this example of when UCLA beat Gonzaga in the 2006 Sweet Sixteen.

Great right? De-fense, clap clap.

Sure Howland has baggage, we all do. But ultimately we tend to learn from it and improve upon our past mistakes. That is why Howland and Mississippi State will be a very dangerous team in the Southeastern conference and sooner than you think. Though Howland might have a different view on the game, expect his defense to be tougher than ever. Honestly, there is a reason to get excited, Mississippi State fans.