Howland II: 'Our program will be fine' | What's Bruin

UCLA Coach Ben Howland’s longest news conference of the season continued Wednesday with a look at the future and what he expects out of some of the current players going into next season.

>> Asked about a timetable on personnel, he said, "We’ll probably have decisions along the way [during the next week] as we have in the past and, as soon as we do, we’ll let you know. I hope you would respect the privacy of the parents and their children and the opportunity to make a carefully thought-out decision without feeling the pressure that ‘I have to come up with something now because everybody wants me to.’ It’s an important decision that affects the rest of their lives."

>> Asked about the possibility of signing another player for next season, Howland said, "It’s really hard now, in terms of senior-wise. We were unbelievably lucky to have signed Russell Westbrook the way we did a couple of years ago. There aren’t that many Russells; there must be one right now, because the next Westbrook is out there still. But I don’t know how he is right now.

"Someone asked me today, ‘Are you going to take some time off, relax?’ I said no, that’s not what I am going to do.

"There’s not really a plan in place to follow from past years from other programs. Right now, we have the potential to lose a lot of guys, or not that many and we’re continuing to recruit players. But there aren’t that many guys that are available to come in and help us for next year.

"We would [entertain a junior college player], but it’s very hard because of our entrance requirements. When you have to transfer a significant amount of JC units into a UC, a lot of kids in junior college are put into physical education classes to make sure they get a good start because typically a lot of kids who are high-level, high-major players who ended up in junior college, the typical kid wasn’t a good student coming out of high school. So there aren’t that many guys that would academically qualify from the junior college level, especially big guys; they’re so hard to find. There’s such a premium on them. And we’re not just relegated to big guys, I mean just good player, period.

"Believe me, we’ve been looking all year. There’s a few kids, a couple guys that are big bodies, strong. But big kids are hard [to get] in general. That also applies at the next level. When you have all these big guys that are coming out, usually what NBA programs do for the most part, in the lottery, is they draft based on the best player. And then as you move down the draft further, you draft more on need. But there’s an incredible amount of big guys out there. I had seven guys 7 feet or bigger; if they all come [out] are first-rounders in this year’s draft. And there’s a bunch of 6-10 guys. It’s an impressive draft. If you’re an NBA exec right now, you’re pretty excited, especially if you’ve got two picks like some of them do."

>> There were a lot of hypothetical questions about what would happen in various scenarios. Howland summarized the personnel issues by saying that "James Keefe came out at the end of the year and was terrific. Mike Roll we really missed this year and he still is having issues with his foot. It’s still not completely good. We’re getting a second opinion on his foot sometime here in the next week. There’s still issues with that thing, but I’m confident he’ll be awarded his redshirt year and have two years of eligibility.

"I think Nikola [Dragovic] and Chace [Stanback] plan to be here next year and will work really hard in the spring. We’ll see about Josh [Shipp], Alfred [Aboya] and Luc [Richard Mbah A Moute]. There’s a good chance that they could be here, but there’s also a chance that they could test, go, etc. So there is a lot of uncertainty, which doesn’t make my job fun at this time of the year.

"Our program will be fine. I want what’s best for them and that’s what they have to decide. That’s what they have to figure out and my job is to help them do that, but, ultimately, it’s the player’s families and the players themselves that make decisions about their future, just as they did when they elected to come to UCLA.

"I’m hoping that things work out. Our recruiting class is very stellar coming in. Drew Gordon is going to get a lot of playing time as a freshman, which is what all freshmen want. I think all four of our freshmen — we have two McDonald’s All-Americans in Jrue Holiday and Malcolm Lee — and I am really high on and impressed with Jerime Anderson."

>> Howland added a few more details on his discussion with Kevin Love on Tuesday: "He was really upset ... because things were reported that weren’t true and so he was calling his mother and calling his dad. I’m expecting that he’ll have some decision early next week.

"What I will explain to him and explain to every player is that when you put your name in and you go through the whole process, you see guys that go and guys that go down based on the workouts. But most of it is based on how they perform during the year and not one game changes how a kid is viewed. They look at the body of work as they should. This is an anomaly here [this year], especially of big guys. Like the kid at Nevada-Reno [7-1 JaVale McGee] — not many people have heard of him; he’s a top-20 pick. The Lopezes: one’s a lottery, one’s a top 20. There are a lot of exceptional big guys out there this year; it’s incredible.

"I think every kid’s dream is to be an NBA player, as it was for moi. The reality is very few kids are able to get to that level and stay at that level. That’s the key. You see guys who go in for a year or two, they don’t make it and they don’t last. The key is once you get there, to perform and do well. That’s why you want to hit the ground running when you get there. And that’s key, in my opinion, for every player to consider that puts his name in. You always want to leave the door open for yourself if you determine that, for whatever reason, you want to come back. What worries more than anything is when you have this Brandon Rush deal [blowing his knee out before the draft]. Would they have won it this year without him? Probably not, and he was not coming back. Ed O’Bannon, there’s another.

"I just think you should keep all your options open if you elect to put your name in.... Jordan Farmar, for example, didn’t decide until the day before the last day before you could take your name out. You know, you send in a fax saying you’re taking my name back out. It was the last minute on him. And I’m so proud everything has worked out so well for him."

>> About this year’s starting guards, he noted of Westbrook: "His mom and dad are really solid people. They want to do what’s right for their son. Russell’s an exceptional kid, he’ll be honor roll too, by the way. He had one test outstanding that still hadn’t been graded, but he’ll be on there." And he said of Collison, "There’s definitely a chance that Darren will come back. Nothing’s been decided yet. We’re going to meet in the next couple days with him and his parents."

>> About the future situation at center: "[Keefe is] 227 pounds, so I think it would be hard for him. Alfred can. Alfred’s 245 pounds and much stronger in his lower body than James is. And obviously, Drew Gordon will be thrust into that role of having to match up with other teams’ five-man [centers]. And there aren’t that many true Lopezes running around out there in college basketball. I thought, for example, that Joey Dorsey was an absolute animal against us and when you looked at him, and how physical it was. If you go back and watch the film, you would be astounded at what he was doing in terms of pushing and shoving and slamming his body.

"James has got to get bigger and stronger in the off-season. I think that what he showed at the end of the season, including the SC and Stanford games in the [Pac-10] tournament and especially the Western Kentucky performance, he has a very bright future in his last two years at UCLA and I know he’s excited about next season."

>> About Alfred Aboya, the Bruin coach said, "Let’s project and say Kevin did leave; Alfred you would look at, right now, as our leading candidate to be our starting center next year. If we were to lose him, we’ve already lost Lorenzo, that would be obviously, a huge loss. I hope that Alfred does come back; I hope he finishes his last year of college. I think he’ll have a great year, but again, that’s his decision. He has issues within family, for example; his dad is a diabetic and his mother has high blood pressure and they both need medications and they cost significant amounts of money. So he has that; that is a stress on him. There’s a lot of things that are hard of these kids to know and he has to make that decision. He still may not be able to finish the classes. For example, if Alfred goes and plays for the national team, he may not be able to finish the classes in the summer and he would have to come back because graduation from college is the No. 1 priority for that young man.

"He’s given way too much and has been so key in our last three years and the success we’ve had; Alfred can take whatever time he needs. He’s talked about law school; he’s not certain what he wants to do in that respect, so there’s some uncertainty as to what he wants."

>> Concerning Mbah A Moute: "It was a tough year for him with the two ankle injuries. I was just so proud of the way he fought back and powered through those and dealt with them. The first ankle injury against Arizona was the first time he’d ever sprained that ankle. Whenever you have a first-time sprain, it’s serious. He was out nine days, 10 days and then he re-did the same ankle; that was coming down on somebody’s foot in that SC game. He had the concussion that kept him out a week and that was the game at Oregon; that was an unbelievable win, we had eight guys on scholarship eligible to play that night."

>> On Dragovic:"I think he wants to come back, that’s been his thing. His parents are not poor, so he doesn’t have to go home. They’re fairly well to do; his dad’s a successful businessman. They want their son to get his college degree. They really appreciate — and have been here — the great opportunity he’s been given at UCLA. My thing is for him is to be more committed as a basketball player. I thought he came in here this year and expected to produce and give us more than he was able to and that’s something he knows already. He’s going to have to work really hard because he would have more of an opportunity this year if things work out where we would lose guys."

>> On Stanback: "Chace has improved during the year and those are the two guys that would be thrown in the forefront in terms of opportunity."

>> As for a retrospective on the season, Howland said, "As I reflect upon it now, obviously, I couldn’t have been more disappointed to have gotten there [the Final Four] again and not won a national championship. It was very frustrating. I thought this was our best chance. That being said, we lost to a team that was a free throw away from being 39-1 and a great team and better than us on Saturday.

"And we had a fantastic year, especially when you consider that we didn’t have the depth that was probably necessary in the backcourt. Our back-up guard was our starting power forward and that was tough. All things considered, we started out the season with nine guys on scholarship that were able to play in the first six games and we were at 10 for most of the year, although at times we were at eight. For example at Oregon, we had eight guys; we had nine numerous times. Right now, it’s just too early to say how many guys we’re even going to have here next year who are from this current team. We have one senior, that’s all I know. Lorenzo Mata[-Real] — I couldn’t be more proud of a kid the way he handled this season with Kevin Love, a first-team All-American, MVP of the Pac-10, to come in and basically beat him out at the starting center position. He had a great attitude, all about winning and all about team, just an unbelievable kid who is going to be three courses short of graduation going into this quarter; he’ll have one course this summer to complete and he’ll graduate in four years and that’s really, really — to me — special, considering how far he’s come in that sense. I’m so proud of him.

>> Howland acknowledged that he has read and heard about criticisms of the Bruins’ offensive approach, but said, "In collegiate athletics or professional athletics, one of the great things is that everybody has the right to their own opinion. Everybody can express what they want to feel. Every year is different; every team is different. I look at our field-goal percentage offense; I think we were third in the league this year in overall games in scoring behind Cal, which was the ninth-place team, and Oregon, which finished second and finished wherever they finished. But it’s funny. I look at a Hall of Fame coach, who I think is an outstanding coach and very successful in Roy Williams and they’ve been to the Final Four — either at Kansas or Carolina — six times and won once. Now they play very, very fast — we would all agree — so what does he need to do, play slower? Or what about Dean Smith in his first six attempts; he played very, very fast. And you can go down the list and look at it, so that’s part of being in athletics. People are going to be critical. You’re always looking to improve, so I’m always looking to do things better and will always reevaluate at the end of the year what we can do to improve at both ends of the floor. And we’ll always try to also tweak things to our talent level and skill level and depth of our teams."

Slightly outside the realm of the Bruins on the floor:

>> On the role of agents, Howland said, "The agents don’t affect where you get drafted; they don’t affect your first two years. You definitely need an agent if you’d like to stay in the draft and there’s a cut-off date and I forget when it is in June. Once you determine you’re not going to return, you can sign with an agent because they represent marketing opportunities and shoe contracts, etc., etc.

Asked why players sometimes sign with an agent so quickly, he quipped, "If you sign today, I’ll give you $100,000. Actually, I’ll let you borrow against your future earnings, $100,000."

>> Howland said he didn’t have all the facts concerning a possible change in the NBA draft rules requiring players to be age 20 or older, but added that "if a young man at 18 years of age can be asked and sent to another country to fight for his country and die for his country, I don’t think it’s fair to require him to go to college for a year if he has a chance to go pro. That said, it’s definitely been the best thing for the culture of basketball and kids in general by far if you look at the last couple of years. Kids were thinking more about college or the pros? That thing was spiraling out of control, but there’s a happy medium. I think all kids should be eligible for the draft coming out of high school. If they’re picked in the top 20, great, if not then maybe there’s a provision that they can still attend college. There aren’t that many LeBrons [James], the [Kevin] Garnetts, the Kobes [Bryant] and a lot of people would say they would all have benefited from a year of college and I’m sure that’s right, but that’s their choice. But I don’t have the facts and the information like David Stern does, so I’m sure there are good reasons why the rules are in place that I’m unaware of."

His final thought: "I think about all those wins and the great wins we had this year in tight games and was really proud of this group of kids. I’m excited about honoring them on Monday night at our banquet."

—Rich Perelman