California is mandating salary cuts for state employees, but certain people were exempt from such drops in pay because they have multi-year contracts. UCLA’s athletic director Dan Guerrero, football coach Rich Neuheisel, and basketball coach Ben Howland were all those not affected by the cuts – but all three are volunteering to accept lower salaries to help out the state.
The exact amount their paychecks will drop is still being negotiated, but the men will forfeit up to 10% of their salaries for the year. Neuheisel makes $1.25, plus up to $500,000 in bonuses annually, while Howland’s salary plus incentives for …read more

Soon after I wrote about how Davidson Coach Bob McKillop received a contract extension through the 2015-16 season and won’t be around long enough before heading for the bigger and better, UCLA’s Ben Howland signed a deal lasting through the 2014-15 season this week. The new extension will pay Howland $1.97 million next season and $2.3 million in the final year, plus incentives that could top out at $235,000 a year.
And again I say, yeah, right!
Howland won’t see that $2.3 million because he won’t be at UCLA to collect it.
Howland is an even bigger commodity than McKillop. First …read more

What were most of you doing when you were in the eighth grade?
For some of us (especially me), it was an awkward time of trying to fit in with the cool kids or any kids for that matter who share some of your interests and awkwardness among other things. Dating was starting to become a reality as well as other things like facial and chest hair, change in voice and zits.
And if you were developing athletic skills of any kind, all you wanted to do was make it to high school, and playing anywhere beyond that was a dream at …read more

Josh Shipp will return to UCLA, which means at least two starters will return from last year’s Final Four team.
Collison and Shipp should keep this team in the top 15 all year. Roll, Keefe and Aboya will be heavily relied upon as well.
Bruins Nation could not be happier!
Now all the focus is on forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute. Will he stay in the draft? Decision time is creeping up on him and dozens of other college underclassmen. The deadline to withdraw from the draft is June 16, 5pm.
Moute will be back. Borderline …read more

ESPN has posted interviews with the Final Four coaches: Ben Howland, John Calipari, Roy Williams and Bill Self.
They are definitely worth the time to watch.

After two consecutive trips to the Final Four, UCLA signed head basketball coach Ben Howland to a 7-year contract that will pay him $1.5 million a season.