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Ben Howland

Amid speculation that he is in line to succeed Steve Lavin at UCLA, Pittsburgh men’s basketball coach Ben Howland met with his players Monday but gave no indication about whether or not he is headed to Westwood.

Howland, who interviewed with Bruin Athletic Director Dan Guerrero and Associate Athletic Director Betsy Stephenson in Santa Barbara on Sunday, declined to comment on the UCLA job after the meeting.

Some of his current players, however, were much more outspoken.

“Coach Howland is not going anywhere,” senior guard Brandin Knight told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “I don’t think anybody around here’s worried about it. He’s built a great program here. He is not going to UCLA.”

The only candidate to interview for the UCLA job thus far, Howland is widely assumed to be the Bruins’ top choice. He declared that coaching at UCLA was his “dream job” last week but has also expressed reluctance about leaving a Pittsburgh program that has been on the rise lately.

“Given that my family roots are in California and my parents live there, I felt compelled to look at the potential opportunity,” the Santa Barbara native said in a statement issued Monday by Pittsburgh. “I have a tremendous situation at the University of Pittsburgh. We are building something very special here, and it would take an extraordinary set of circumstances for me to leave.”

Whether or not coaching at UCLA is the opportunity which Howland is waiting for remains to be seen.

The Associate Press National Coach of the Year in 2002, Howland signed a seven-year contract with Pittsburgh after last season reportedly worth just over $800,000 per year, but the deal contains a buyout. UCLA is expected to offer about $1 million, but Pittsburgh interim Athletic Director Mark Boehm is reportedly trying to restructure Howland’s current deal to make it even more lucrative.

While Boehm is unhappy with what he perceived as UCLA’s failure to seek permission to speak with Howland, Guerrero vehemently denied the accusation.

“UCLA made contact with University of Pittsburgh athletic director Marc Boehm prior to making contact with Coach Howland and scheduling a meeting,” Guerrero said in a statement Monday evening.

“We feel very confident that our process has been and will continue to be conducted in a professional manner that is consistent with the custom and practice of our industry.”

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