Ben Howland Quotes

My overall point is that 'one and dones' are not healthy for college basketball. I should not have made it personal to Kentucky and its players and I apologize.

The institutions of college athletics exist primarily as unreality fueled by deceit. The unreality is that universities should be in the business of providing large spectacles of mass entertainment. The fundamental absurdity of that notion requires the promulgation of the various deceits necessary to carry it out.

In college, I probably lost a total of about 11 games, and then I came to the Celtics and in my first three weeks we went on a nine-game losing streak.

We've seen the hubris. And now we're seeing the scandals.

Then I went to UCLA - so of course I became a huge Bruin basketball fan... and later came to football.

I like college football, but I'm a huge college basketball fan. I could sit and watch every game of March Madness and be happy. That could be a vacation.

The two places that I had most imprinted in my mind and in my memory were UCLA and Indiana. To play at one and coach at the other is unbelievable.

Clinton lied. A man might forget where he parks or where he lives, but he never forgets oral sex, no matter how bad it is.

I don't know of anything illegal or even unethical that Bert Lance has ever done.

The trust saga is full of “scandals, deception, dirty tricks and outright villainy,” says the presiding judge.

They shouldn’t, sir. You sold your souls and you’re going to continue selling them. You can be very moral and righteous in asking me that question sir, but there is not one of you in this room that’s going to turn down any of our money. You’re going to take it. I can only offer it…. We want to put our materials on the bodies of your athletes and the best way to do it is to buy your schools or buy your coach.

A lot of people talk about the one-and-done attitude of college athletes, but if you look at the University of Kentucky, we do build winners.

My life, even as a college student, has all been through the NCAA, and I'm telling you there's so much good that comes out of it.

I never thought Marquis Teague would leave after a year.

There is always sleaze in the news. And you know what? The news is always a combination of things that are interesting and things that are important.

I grew up in the Big East Conference for 30 years. We were a conference that was nothing. We were a bunch of schools thrown together and within five years we were one of the top two basketball conferences in the country.

The thing is 3,900 out of 4,000 college basketball players are very happy to have a scholarship. They're happy. They've got a $70,000 scholarship and they've got money in their pocket. It's the other hundred guys and they're all going to make money playing basketball and the top guys are going to make a lot of money.

People who know me know that I'm a rabid fan of the Kansas Jayhawks. My quirky habit is that every Kansas game is on my calendar, and, more often than not, I will plan and schedule flights around them so that I can engage and watch. I have already brainwashed my family to be Jayhawks fans.

The Big Ten is brand strong.

I think anyone who is also a fan of college basketball as well as the NBA, you have an opinion on Duke.

I would love to join Big Blue Nation and play for Coach Calipari at Kentucky, and I would love to join my close friend Michael Porter Jr. and play for coach Cuonzo Martin at Missouri.

If I didn't love the game, why would I play at the University of Kentucky? Why would I ever come here? It's a serious program.

Stop the nonsense about 'student-athlete.'

It still comes down to attracting players, and UCLA can attract players as well as any place in the country.

I would love to add to the rich tradition that Duke University holds on and off the court, and play for one of the all time great coaches, Coach K. I would love to go up to Chapel Hill, play for Roy Williams, and chase back-to-back National Championships at North Carolina.