Mississippi State University has zeroed in on Ben Howland to be the next head coach for the men’s basketball team MSU officially announced Monday night.
“I am impressed with Coach Howland’s resume,” MSU president Mark E. Keenum said in a news release. “He has been successful at the highest levels of college basketball, and I have every confidence he will bring that same proven, winning formula to Mississippi State as well.”
Rob Dauster of nbcsports.com was the first person to report the former UCLA coach had emerged as the front runner for the job.
Evan Daniels of scout.com tweeted that, according to a source, there was high interest on both sides to get the deal done, but nothing was final on Sunday.
Jeff Goodman of espn.com reported Monday morning MSU and Howland had verbally agreed on terms for him to become the head basketball coach. Gary Parrish of cbssports.com tweeted MSU’s affiliation with Adidas played no small part in the hire. Howland has had a relationship with Adidas for years.
Howland has been the head coach at three different schools throughout his career. Howland began his head coaching career at Northern Arizona then moved to Pittsburgh. He most recently coached the UCLA Bruins from 2003-14.
The former 2001-02 AP National Coach of the Year has a career record of 398-205. Howland previously led UCLA to three straight Final Fours from 2006-08. He took UCLA to a first-place finish in the Pac-12 in 2012-13, but was fired after the season.
Howland served as a television analyst for the past two years for NBC Sports.