A chat with Go Joe Bruin about Ben Howland and the UCLA Bruin fiascoe
By mschmidt
I spoke with Carlos Sandoval, lead editor of
, about his reaction to the recent
regarding the UCLA Bruin basketball program’s collapse. Here’s what he had to say:
1. What is your reaction to SI’s article about UCLA?
Initially, the feeling was that of fear, because the word on the internet was that it was some sort of huge drug bust. After reading it, though, it isn’t anywhere near as crippling as I thought it’d be. Instead, it’s incredibly damning to the way Howland — someone who all Bruins have supported at one point or another — runs his team and runs the basketball program. Basically, I’m not shocked, but there were a lot of holes that were filled and a lot of answers that the article gave.
2. Did this come as a suprise to the UCLA faithful or did you see this coming?
I think we all knew Howland had his personality issues, and we all knew that guys like Reeves Nelson were absolute troublemakers. We knew that Nelson should’ve been dismissed earlier than he was and we all figured the cohesion of this team was crippled. What we didn’t see coming, though, was the specifics of it all. I would say the majority hated Nelson before, and now we cannot believe the guy even set a foot in Westwood after his first few offenses of abuse against teammates. The drug issue probably wasn’t incredibly surprising, but it was surprising that Howland didn’t bother to take the right steps to remedy all the issues. Basically, we had a general idea as to why we’re in the hole we’re in right now, but we didn’t see the specifics coming.
3. What is the biggest thing that needs to be done moving forward to ensure that the Wooden principles are reinstilled into the program?
Accountability. I feel like all administrative employees have done a great job at deflecting criticism and saving their own butts. Dan Guerrero is the biggest culprit, as most of what he says seems like a desperate attempt to vouch for his job. This is opposed to saying, “We haven’t been doing things right. Things are broken right now, and they need to be fixed.” Instead, he’ll tell us everything, in his eyes, are just fine and that there isn’t anything to worry about. He isn’t going to change, and he’s been at this job for two or seven years too long now. I’m sure everyone can agree that Guerrero needs to leave.
4. What are Bruins’ fans thinking about coach Howland these days? Is he on the chopping block?
It’s crazy, because before this, the entire fan-base was divided as to how they wanted Howland to be dealt with. One half wanted to fire Howland, either immediately or at the end of the season. The other half thought we should give him at least one more year before we can him. Now, I have no idea what most fans think. I would speculate, though, based on others’ interactions, that Howland is definitely a lot less liked than he was before. But some people have told me they feel better about Howland knowing that he’s had to deal with egos that he’s never had to deal with before. Personally, he should’ve been on the chopping block a few weeks ago, and I’m upset that, if he gets fired now, it would’ve only been because of a scathing article and not his stubborn-as-hell coaching and poor mismanagement of players.
Thank you Carlos! For more insight into everything UCLA Bruins, check out Go Joe Bruin.