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March 18, 1999

New hoops coach introduced

New hoops coach introduced

Pitt officials named Ben Howland the new head men's basketball coach March 8, replacing Ralph Willard whose resignation became effective at the end of the Panthers' season. Howland, 41, is the former coach of Northern Arizona University, a team he led to three straight 20-win seasons, an NIT bid and the school's first-ever NCAA tournament berth.

The new coach played intercollegiate basketball at Weber State and played one season professionally in Uruguay before beginning his coaching career in 1981 as assistant coach at Gonzaga University. From there, Howland moved to California-Santa Barbara, where he was assistant coach for eight seasons, before taking the head coaching job at Northern Arizona in 1994.

Howland's 1996-97 team followed a 6-20 season by going 21-8, marking the 10th biggest single-season turnaround in NCAA annals. He is the 13th head basketball coach in Pitt's history.


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