Howland recognized with national coaching award

Ben Howland now has tangible evidence to show for the high
praise he has been receiving for turning around the UCLA basketball
program in three short years.

Howland won the Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year Award,
handed out by CollegeInsider.com, on Thursday. Howland finished
just ahead of North Carolina coach Roy Williams, who won The
Associated Press Coach of the Year honors for leading the Tar Heels
to a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Howland is the fourth recipient of the award, named after the
former Mount St. Mary’s coach, who set a record for all-time
coaching appearances.

This is the second national coaching award for Howland, who was
named the 2002 National Coach of the Year by The Associated Press
and The Sporting News as a coach at the University of
Pittsburgh.

“It is a privilege to receive an award named in honor of
Jim Phelan, who is one of the great coaches in the history of
college basketball,” Howland said in a statement. “Most
importantly, I want to credit my players and outstanding staff for
this honor.

“Our UCLA players represent our basketball program and
their families in a first-class manner.”

Under Howland in the 2005-2006 season, UCLA (32-7) accomplished
a number of milestones as well as halted a series of losing trends
that had been established in the past few seasons under Steve
Lavin. UCLA won the Pac-10 title for the first time since 1996-1997
and won the Pac-10 Tournament title for the first time since
1988-1989.

“Coach Howland did a phenomenal job with such a young
team,” said Kyle Macy, a Phelan Award panel member.
“Despite all the injuries and adversity the Bruins won the
Pac-10 Championship.

“In a very short period of time he has changed the
mind-set of the program. He has returned the tradition to a
tradition-rich program,” said Macy, who was an All-American
at Kentucky during his career.

TOP QUARTERBACK COMMITS: St. Augustine (San
Diego) quarterback Chris Forcier, one of the top prospects at his
position in the 2007 class, announced he will commit to UCLA after
an unofficial visit to the campus Wednesday.

Mike Forcier, Chris’ father, confirmed that his son has
ended a recruiting process in which he received scholarship offers
from Miami, Boston College and NC State. Forcier narrowed his list
down to Miami and UCLA, inevitably deciding to stay close to
home.

Forcier, who is listed as a four-star recruit by Scout.com,
helped lead St. Augustine to a Division III state title his junior
year, throwing for 2,634 yards and 32 touchdowns in one of the few
passer-friendly systems in the state.

“I think that UCLA is one of the best, if not the best,
up-and-coming coaching staffs in America, and we felt like they
were shooting straight with us,” Mike Forcier told Scout.com.
“Coach (Dino) Babers told Chris that he has offers from all
over the country and that he could look at any one of those places,
but the best offer was in his own backyard. They made Chris feel at
home.”

Compiled by Adam de Jong, Bruin Sports senior
staff.