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UCLA center Anthony Stover had surgery Friday to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder and will be out for up to four months, coach Ben Howland said.

"It was straight forward and successful," Howland said. "Once they got in there it was definitely clear that it needed to be done."

Stover, a 6-10 sophomore reserve, originally injured his shoulder during preseason practice in October, when an MRI exam revealed torn cartilage. He played through the injury for most of this season and appeared in 28 games with three starts. A defensive specialist, Stover led the team with 39 blocked shots despite averaging only 8.4 minutes per game.

Ben Howland has pocket aces and might possibly get another on the flop, now he's got to decide how to play the hand.

Shabazz Muhammad and Kyle Anderson, two of the top five national recruits, have signed with UCLA along with No. 41 Jordan Adams and No. 26 Tony Parker could very well join them in Westwood next season as UCLA reopens Pauly Pavilion in front of what is sure to be a full house.

With that kind of recruiting class comes pressure to win and it's up to Howland to decide the best course of action.

He could slow play this talented lineup, letting them grow into their own as the season progresses, or he could go all in on his fabulous freshmen, letting them loose from the beginning and trying to ride them to prominence knowing that they could very well be one-and-done players at UCLA.

"We have to have a good plan as to what we're going to put in right away offensively and defensively," Howland said. "We've got to move quickly because the games come so fast."

[CLICK THIS LINK TO HEAR Ben Howland on 710 ESPN radio with Mason & Ireland]

Howland's coaching philosophy has long centered on the team-first mentality. He prefers to have three or four players score in double figures every night instead of having two players with 25 each and that balanced philosophy coupled with his slow-down motion, offense and tough-nosed defensive style tends to hide the explosive offensive talents of star players.

The college statistics of players such as Kevin Love (17.5 points per game) and Russell Westbrook (8.3) don't exactly foreshadow NBA all-star selections. Former national high school player of the year Jrue Holiday is now a starting point guard for the Philadelphia 76ers, but didn't make so much as second-team all-conference during his year at UCLA.

His style has proven successful over the long haul, with three consecutive Final Four appearance as evidence, but that doesn't mean Howland is oblivious to the need to use talented players.

"We definitely have to try to take advantage of their abilities," Howland said. "They're going to be great in the open court and hopefully we're going to have the depth where we can play faster and get up and down."

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UCLA's maligned basketball program is back in the national spotlight, but this time it's a good thing.

Coach Ben Howland, his reputation soiled after his program received national exposure for all the wrong reasons, made a startling comeback just a month after his future at UCLA had been called into question.

With one short, declarative sentence, Las Vegas high school senior Shabazz Muhammad changed the fortunes for UCLA basketball and Howland. Muhammad, the No. 2-ranked recruit in the nation, made UCLA relevant once again when he appeared on ESPNU Wednesday and said "I chose to be a Bruin."

And with that, the Bruins, who did not even make the NCAA tournament -- nor the NIT for that matter -- last season, are suddenly a sleeper pick for a national championship run next season. UCLA, its proud basketball tradition waning after missing the NCAAs twice in the past three seasons, once again has something to brag about.

And after a couple of seasons of contemplating how far the mighty had fallen, those around UCLA are now wondering if the bandwagon has any seats left on it.

"I think he’s going to have a tremendous impact," Howland said of how much of a difference-maker Muhammad could be. "He’s a special, special talent and has so many attributes that will help our team."

Muhammad, a 6-foot-6 small forward, is explosive, athletic and can score from anywhere, including beyond the three-point line. He was named the 2012 Naismith Boy’s High School Player of the Year and selected by the McDonald’s All-American committee as the 2012 Morgan Wootten Player of the Year. He also was named the MVP of the 2012 McDonald’s All-American game on March 28 and won the Powerade Jam Fest dunk contest.

But his scoring ability and talent are only half the story of what he brings to UCLA. His character off the court is equal to his ability on it and that is exactly what UCLA needs after Sports Illustrated reported dysfunction in the UCLA program caused mostly by the unscrupulous acts of entitled recruits.

The signing of Muhammad, along with Kyle Anderson and Jordan Adams, puts a new face on the way UCLA does things.

"The thing that’s great about Shabazz is he’s a great kid," Howland said. "They have a great family. He’s really, really the total package. An outstanding student athlete. This is a whole new era. What we’ve really try to institute now is a whole new level of accountability for our current team."

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UCLA reserve forward Brendan Lane plans to graduate early and transfer to another school, he said Tuesday.

Lane, a 6-foot-9 junior, will enroll in graduate school at his new destination and therefore will be able to play without sitting out a season under the graduate transfer rule. He will have one year of eligibility remaining. Lane averaged 1.6 points and 1.8 rebounds in 19 games and 6.6 minutes per game this season.

"It's hard," Lane said. "I've been here three years and the coaches have been supportive and my teammates have been supportive. It's been a really tough decision, but I've got to make the decision that is best for me."

Lane will graduate with a degree in economics and has the option of extending his graduation until next year by adding classes toward a minor degree, but said he isn't interested in doing that.

Lane was among the top-20 power forward recruits in the nation out of Rocklin High School, but never quite developed into a top-level player with the Bruins. He averaged 2.4 points in 10 minutes a game as a freshman and three points and 3.1 rebounds in 15 minutes a game last season.

This year, his playing time diminished because of the emergence of David and Travis Wear, twin transfers from North Carolina who play the same position as Lane.

"It's a little bit of an issue, but mostly academics is the most important part right now," Lane said. "I want to focus on graduating and getting somewhere I can go and obviously someplace I can play, too."

Lane said he hadn't yet begun to explore possible schools and that he could stay close to home or "have the experience away from California." Coach Ben Howland said he will do all he can to help Lane find a school and said it would most likely be a "mid-major institution."

"Brendan has been absolutely fantastic in terms of the type of kid he is," Howland said. "He's someone that I will always have great appreciation and affection for. ... We'll try to help him find the possibly situation both academically and that also fits the opportunity where you know that you're going to have a great chance to start and play your last year of college basketball and really have a great experience with that."

UCLA was not among the 32 teams selected for the NIT and the school will not accept an invitation from the CBI or CIT, meaning Bruins' season is over.

UCLA (19-14) was a bubble team for the NIT after finishing fifth in the Pac-12 and then bowing out in the second round of the Pac-12 tournament. Coach Ben Howland said the team would accept an NIT invitation, but UCLA's name did not come up when the bracket was announced Sunday night.

Washington and Arizona were seeded No. 1 while Oregon and Stanford were also selected and seeded No. 3.

Because UCLA will not play in the post season, the college careers of seniors Lazeric Jones and Jerime Anderson have ended.

"It’s going to be tough but we got another part of my life to live," Jones said. "I still have to finish school and hopefully I’ll stay playing basketball on another level after this."

Ben Howland is probably safe for now.

The UCLA basketball team will miss the NCAA tournament this year, violating a cardinal sin among Bruin faithful for the second time in three years, and that in itself is a fireable offense, but Howland won't be fired.

Larry Farmer and Walt Hazzard are the only other UCLA coaches since John Wooden to miss two NCAA tournaments in three years and neither of them lasted much longer after, but Howland isn't going to join that group.

Add in the fact that UCLA is a program under scrutiny because of a recent Sports Illustrated report that alleges Howland's coaching style and recruiting misses are responsible for a program in disarray--not to mention a team that has been absent from the national rankings in all but one week over the past three seasons--and you have a pretty compelling case that many UCLA fans wouldn't shed tears should athletic director Dan Guerrero hand Howland his walking papers.

But don't look for Howland in the unemployment line just yet.

Howland is under contract through 2015 and it would take upwards of $3 million to buy out his contract, so that alone is enough to keep him around. The well-heeled donors and high-powered boosters would have to pony up the cash and there just isn't much of an anti-Howland groundswell among the one percent.

Howland is also set to bring in a top-ranked recruiting class with Kyle Anderson and Jordan Adams already signed and Shabazz Muhammad and Tony Parker considering UCLA. Should Howland go, Muhammad and Parker would definitely be lost and Anderson and Adams would almost certainly ask to be released from their letters of intent.

With UCLA set to unveil a revamped Pauley Pavilion next season, it doesn't make sense to do it with the same team that just finished fifth in the Pac-12 conference plus some recruits they scramble to get after the current class heads elsewhere. And it definitely doesn't make sense to let some coach who has never coached at UCLA re-open the hallowed ground of UCLA hoops.

Guerrero has said he won't evaluate Howland until the season is over and as of now, the Bruins are a bubble team for the NIT and Howland said the team would accept an invitation to play, so Guerrero won't be making any decisions until after that and he will have to consult with chancellor Gene Block before making any decisions.

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LOS ANGELES -- A difficult and sometimes bizarre season took a disappointing turn for the UCLA basketball team in a game that pretty much summed up the way the season went.

The Bruins lost, 66-58, to Arizona Thursday in a Pac-12 tournament quarterfinal that, much like the season, featured UCLA fighting through adversity, looking as if it might turn a corner but could never quite get things rolling in the right direction.

UCLA (19-14) will lament losing the game in a wide-open Pac-12 tournament that was their only possible path to the NCAA tournament, especially after the Bruins' path to the final cleared somewhat with top-seeded Washington's loss earlier in the day, but the inconsistencies that have plagued UCLA all season did so again against Arizona.

The Bruins did not put together a win streak of more than three games in conference play this season and could not put together a stretch of more than five minutes of high-level play Thursday. The Bruins fell into an early hole, climbed back out and made a run, but could not close it out.

"We had our opportunities to win and did not seize the moment," coach Ben Howland said.

The same could be said for UCLA all season. UCLA lost four conference games by three points or fewer and lost four times on the road after taking second-half leads. Those close losses ended up being the difference between making the NCAA tournament and hoping for an NIT invitation.

But so are so many other things.

The Bruins entered this season without two of their top three leading scorers from last year after Malcolm Lee and Tyler Honeycutt left school to enter the NBA draft. UCLA lost the third member of that group when Reeves Nelson was kicked off the team seven games in. The fourth-leading scorer, Joshua Smith, reported for the season grossly out of shape and was hardly a factor most of the season.

The rest of the Bruins tried to keep things together, but simply never built any momentum.

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LOS ANGELES -- UCLA's chances of making the NCAA tournament ended with a 66-58 loss to Arizona in the Pac-12 tournament Thursday at Staples Center, but the Bruins would play in the NIT if invited, coach Ben Howland said.

"If we have the opportunity to play in the postseason in the NIT, we would accept," Howland said. "It's something that I want for our players. So yeah, no question, we would not snub our nose at the opportunity to play in the NIT."

NIT tournament invitations are handed out after the NCAA tournament selections are made Sunday. Conference regular-season champions not invited to the NCAA tournament get an automatic berth in the NIT, which could hinder UCLA's chances.

UCLA last played in the NIT in 1986 and lost to UC Irvine, 80-74, in the first round. They won the NIT in 1985.

The CBI and the CIT are other postseason tournaments that could court UCLA (19-14), but it's not likely the 11-time national champion Bruins would accept an invite to either of those lower-tier events even after missing the NCAA tournament for the second time in three seasons.

"Coach Howland already spoke to us after the game and I don’t know if we would go to any of those other tournaments," said senior guard Jerime Anderson, who said he did not know the names of the other tournaments.

Lazeric Jones, also a senior, said he would welcome the opportunity to extend his college career by playing in the NIT, but has little knowledge of the CBI or CIT.

"I love playing basketball so any basketball game I can play is good with me," Jones said. "To be honest, I don’t know too much about those other tournaments. Whatever coach wants us to do and whatever my teammates want to do, I’m down with that."

LOS ANGELES -- Joshua Smith has pretty bad timing, so Ben Howland pretty much had no choice.

Smith, UCLA's sophomore center, missed the team bus to Staples Center for a first-round game against USC in the Pac-12 tournament and Howland suspended his 6-foot-10 inside force for the first half of UCLA's 55-40 victory over the Trojans.

The team is staying at the J.W. Marriott at L.A. Live -- just a five-minute walk to Staples, and Smith actually beat the team bus to the arena because the bus had to navigate the one-way streets, traffic signals and downtown L.A. traffic.

But because of all the scrutiny surrounding UCLA basketball in the wake of a Sports Illustrated report that alleged, among other things, a lack of discipline by Howland for transgressions by standout players, Howland had to take action for a seemingly harmless incident.

So as No. 5-seeded UCLA suffered through a miserable first 15 minutes against No. 12 USC, Smith sat planted on the bench unable to help his team get out of an early-game shooting funk all because he was four minutes late for the bus in pretty much the worst possible week he could have been late for any team function.

"It’s just one of those where coach made a decision and I’m not going to fret with the decision he made," Smith said. "I was late and I deserved to be punished and when he told me, I had no problems with it."

Certainly UCLA could have used Smith. The Bruins made only three of their first 20 shots from the field, unable to take advantage of a major size advantage mostly because Smith was not on the floor. USC, a team that won only one conference game all season, led, 17-9 with 6:35 left in the first half.

Still, Howland stuck to his guns even as he watched his team settle for jump shots as USC packed the middle with defense because UCLA did not have Smith in the game establishing a much-needed inside threat. Howland said Smith's tardiness has not been an issue in the past, but it was clear that he had to send a message with the program under so much scrutiny this past week.

"It hasn’t been something that has been a problem with him ever being late to the bus, but I don’t care," Howland said. "This is too big and too important."

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UCLA will join Indiana, Georgetown and Georgia as host schools for the 2012 Legends Classic, a preseason basketball tournament, and will play in the championship rounds at the new Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.

The format features 12 teams from across the nation competing at the four host sites Nov. 11-15 and the four host schools then meet in New York Nov. 19-20. The four host schools have combined for 17 national championships and 117 NCAA tournament appearances.

It will be the third consecutive year UCLA has played in New York. The Bruins played in the preseason NIT last season and visited St. John's this season.

LOS ANGELES -- Lazeric Jones picked a heck of a season to be UCLA’s captain.

From a floundering 2-5 start to the season, to the dismissal of all-conference forward Reeves Nelson to center Joshua Smith’s ineffectiveness and last week’s Sports Illustrated article portraying the team as a program in disarray, this has been a season filled with one bit of adversity after another for the Bruins.

But to find the Bruins playing their best basketball at the end of such a difficult season is a testament to the heart and character of the players, led by their captain.

Jones, a 6-foot-1 senior guard, has been the steadying influence who helped keep off-court issues off the court. He has been the hard-nosed player who brought a brand of Chicago toughness in a season when the Bruins needed it most.

And he has been the leader on the court, too, coming up with Pac-12 Player of the Week honors last week as UCLA defeated Washington State and conference regular-season champion Washington to give the team momentum heading into the Pac-12 tournament.

The No. 5-seeded Bruins (18-13, 11-7) play No. 12 USC (6-25, 1-17) in a first-round game Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. at Staples Center and must win four games in four days if they want to make the NCAA tournament. To do so, they will look to Jones, their leader on and off the court, to guide the way.

“He’s done a great job for us and has really been a pillar of stability and a very good role model in terms of on and off the floor,” coach Ben Howland said. “He is really, really a good person and a good kid. You can’t say enough about that and that ties into why he is a good player. Very focused. He loves the game.”

Jones leads the Bruins in scoring with 13.4 points per game, assists with 4.2 per game and steals with 1.8 per game. But more than his stats, his leadership and constant presence have been a unifying force for the team. He is the only player who started every game this season and was the only player to start every game last season as well.

Jones also leads the team in minutes with 33.4 per game so he always seems to be involved when UCLA needs him most.

“He’s always talking about staying together and playing for each other as a team,” guard Jerime Anderson said. “That’s something that he really believes in and you can see it out on the court. He’s all about his team and he’s willing to fight for us. That’s the attitude that all teammates and all team members should have.”

It’s an attitude that has come in handy this season, when off-court distraction easily could have crumbled the team. Instead, Jones’ steadying influence helped keep the team focused during trying times and even though the win-loss record might not be as good as expected at UCLA, it’s pretty remarkable considering all the Bruins went through this season.

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LOS ANGELES -- If UCLA keeps playing this way, coach Ben Howland might want to commission an investigative reporter to unearth sordid details about his program every week of the season.

In what has been easily the most difficult week of an unusually difficult season, the Bruins played their best basketball in the wake of a rippling Sports Illustrated report that exposed some dirty little secrets. UCLA capped the regular-season with a 75-69 comeback victory over first-place Washington on Saturday in the Bruins’ final game at the Sports Arena.

It followed a resounding 78-46 victory over Washington State that was the largest margin of victory by any Cougars’ opponent this season and was the second-largest margin of victory by UCLA. The Bruins played their best back-to-back games in the same week that Sports Illustrated reported mass dysfunction in the UCLA program over the past three or four years.

A pair of victories in a weak Pac-12 Conference certainly doesn’t put UCLA back among the nation’s elite, but the resolve the team showed this week in the face of such adversity makes it clear that UCLA is not a program in a shambles.

“It speaks to how together our team is and how together we’ve been all year,” guard Jerime Anderson said. “Regardless of what anybody thinks outside, we’re very close and we love our coach and respect him and have his back totally, 100 percent.”

The Bruins (18-13, 11-7 Pac-12) have been close most of the season. They lost five games by three points or fewer this season, including four in Pac-12 play. A few more made free throws here, a defensive stop there and the Bruins would be sitting atop the Pac-12 standings as had been projected in the preseason.

But the Bruins were unable to close out those games. They held second-half leads at Oregon, Oregon State, Washington and Arizona and lost them all. Saturday, they reversed that trend with a defensive onslaught that limited Washington to only 22 points in the second half. That was a season-low for a half by the Huskies, who were averaging 79.4 points per game.

Team defense takes togetherness and for UCLA to display that type of team camaraderie this week against the top team in the conference says a great deal about the character of the Bruins.

“Kids are very resilient and I think the adversity of this week probably brought us closer together,” Howland said. “I was really proud of our team.”

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LOS ANGELES -- Until this week's Sports Illustrated hit newsstands, close losses on the road had defined UCLA's basketball season.

The Bruins (17-13, 10-7) have lost five times by three points or fewer and they get a second chance at one of those teams when they face Washington in the regular season finale Saturday at 11 a.m. PT at the Sports Arena. And not only that, but the Bruins have a chance to keep first-place Washington (21-8, 14-3) from sole possession of the Pac-12 title.

"I've lost to Washington every time I've played them so I definitely want to get a win on them," sophomore guard Tyler Lamb said.

The Bruins led, 65-55, with six minutes to play when the teams faced off a month ago in Seattle, but managed only two more baskets in a 71-69 loss. The Bruins have had similar fates in losses at Oregon, Oregon State, Arizona and St. John's. The Bruins had second-half leads in all of those games but couldn't hold on down the stretch. And at Stanford, the Bruins never led, but lost by two.

The Bruins have lost five conference games by a total of 18 points. If the Bruins had won those, the Pac-12 title would be on the line Saturday. If they had won just two of those, they'd be in the running for a top-four spot in the conference and a first-round bye in the Pac-12 tournament. Instead, the Bruins have very little on the line Saturday. They can finish fifth, sixth or seventh, but will have to play the opening round of the conference tournament against USC, Utah or Arizona State.

"It's disappointing," forward David Wear said. "At the same time we just have to prepare and move on and get ready for the tournament. Right now we're just trying to improve our seeding and get the highest seeding we possibly can to put ourselves in a better situation."

It's difficult to say what has kept the Bruins from closing out those close games down the stretch. Certainly free-throw shooting has been an issue. But so has fatigue. The Bruins are playing an eight-man rotation for the most part and Lamb, Lazeric Jones and Jerime Anderson are all averaging over 31 minutes.

"There are a number of factors, but we just didn't finish the game," Wear said.

One thing the Bruins are sure to finish Saturday is their run at the Sports Arena. UCLA has been using the venue as its home court while Pauley Pavilion receives a renovation and while the Bruins have had some success at the arena, going 9-4 there so far, they won't necessarily be sad to leave it.

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UCLA coach Ben Howland held a conference call with reporters to discuss a Sports Illustrated article that alleges multiple wrongdoings by Howland and his players. Here is a transcript of Howland's call:

BEN HOWLAND (Opening statement):

Obviously this is not a great day for our program and of course for me. As I said yesterday I knew some of the details of the Sports Illustrated story but did not read the entire text until late last night. As you can imagine I was surprised at some of the assertions that I had no knowledge of, or were simply untrue, were taken out of context. I'm responsible for this program and everything that happens in it. If there's any need to make changes, I'll make them. I'm proud of our current and former players and I'm confident in where we're going as we head forward.

Q: Have you changed as a coach from when you went to three consecutive Final Fours?

BEN HOWLAND: I'm pretty much the same person. You're always trying to improve as a coach and a player. That's something that I preach to my players constantly is that you never stay the same. You’re always trying to get better. I hope that I would actually be a better coach than I was during that three year run of Final Fours.

Q: What changed, if anything?

BEN HOWLAND: I'm very proud of our team. Two of the last three years we're going into the last weekend one game behind the leaders with a chance to win the conference and have been right there. Our expectations at UCLA are very high. The highest in the country. For most programs that's a level of success that's pretty solid. For us it's disappointing because we want to win championships and championships are what UCLA is about, having won the most national championships of any basketball program or any athletic department. I understand that's what comes with being the coach here at UCLA.

Q: What do you think you’ve mismanaged the last couple of years?

BEN HOWLAND: Last year in an article in the L.A. Times, I so much as admitted that there's no question I've made mistakes along the way when you look at recruiting in terms of evaluations of players or character in an instance or two. This is not to be taken with all our players. I think for the most part we've been very, very blessed and lucky to have great kids, that's something we've pride ourselves on since we've first arrived here. The number one thing is we want to recruit great kids, good people that are going to continue to get better, good people on and off the floor. I think for the most part we've done that.

I would say that there's no question we've really worked hard these last two recruiting classes to continue to make sure we're recruiting great kids. I'm really excited about the two commitments we have for this campaign in Kyle Anderson and Jordan Adams.

Q: Did you have a shift in the type of kids you were recruiting and if so, why?

BEN HOWLAND: I don’t know that it was the type of kid. In other words, you would never knowingly try to make a mistake.

Q: But was there a different type of player?

BEN HOWLAND: Not really. In my opinion, we've been very blessed. When you look at the whole body or work here over the last nine years, we've had a lot great players, great kids, kids that have gone on to the NBA, kids that are playing overseas, but also kids that have gone on and done a great job beyond basketball with their lives and their livelihoods and their futures. I'm proud of all those kids.

One thing we don't control is the turnover in guys leaving early. There's no question that's sped up the process of having to bring in more kids, kids quicker and the whole recruiting process when you have that kind of situation, but that's again part of the culture and where we are. That’s something we talk about a lot now and have really tried to work hard to deal with that.

Q: Do you think that you have lived up to the Wooden standard?

BEN HOWLAND: I hold coach in such high esteem. I think anyone who knows me and has followed the program knows that. I also said that nine years ago when I arrived here, the very first thing out of my mouth was that there will never be another John Wooden. I would never purport to be able to live up to him and what he accomplished and who he was as a man and as coach. Of course I strive to follow his ideals and try to support that in our teaching with our players and in our program. I had a great relationship with Coach Wooden. That's one of the great blessings of my entire life, both as a coach and as a person. For me and my family to get to know him was such an honor to be able to talk to him and learn from him. I’m just so blessed to be able to have that opportunity.

Of course there's been tough times. Some of the maxims of coach. I keep his little book, "Thoughts and observations by John Wooden" as a devotional that I look at and read all the time. Be observant and learn from your mistakes and try to improve. The one thing is: Always do your very best. That's what I truly believe I've tried to do, as has my staff, and that's something we've tried to implore on our players whether it be in the classroom, on the floor or in our personal lives.

Q: Do you agree with the assertion that you do little to instill camaraderie?

BEN HOWLAND: I don't think that. I think if you talk to my former players. That may be the opinion of a specific player. No one came forward and said that they said that. I think that if you talk to my former players, whether they be here at UCLA or Pitt or Northern Arizona or as an assistant at UCSB, over the last 31 years, that actually would not be considered to be accurate. That's hurtful because I feel like I've had great relationships. One of the great joys in coaching for me has been and continues to be the relationships I have with so many of my former players. That I stay in close contact with them and their families from all those years past. That to me is one of the great joys is having those relationships and the love that you’ve because of being involved in athletics and the closeness that brings to teams and to relationships.

Q: Have you talked to the current team about the fallout from the story and do you plan to?

BEN HOWLAND: We have spoken to them about that. Now that the story has come out, we’ll talk to them today before we practice.

Q: Did you try and stop the physical abuse that allegedly took place?

BEN HOWLAND: The instances that you're talking about in the article have to do with hard fouls or cheap shots. Never was there any -- during my watching and being there for every minute of every practice -- an assault where I felt like it was prudent that there was some kind of assault going on. Often times in the heat of battle elbows are flying or guys are being physical. A cheap shot is different than a closed fist punched in someone's face or directed at someone. I think there's varying degrees of your question. Anything that I felt was something of a serious nature, I would always bring to Dan [Guerrero] or my superiors and I would deal with whichever players were involved.

Q: What kind of assurances has Dan given you that you will be the head coach of UCLA next year?

BEN HOWLAND: I've been here, this is my ninth season now and I'm really, really proud of what we've accomplished both in terms of wins and losses and also just the help in developing players and moving them forward from when they first get here as young kids out of high school to young men and adults as they leave the program.

I feel very blessed to be the coach at UCLA. It's my dream job. It's something I dreamed of as a young coach. And I'm appreciative of every day I'm allowed to be the coach here. At the end of every season I sit with Dan and have an end-of-the-season evaluation where we talk about our strengths, weaknesses, what we need to get better at. What he felt was positive versus things that need improvement and we'll do that again this year.

But I am very confident of my abilities of my abilities to lead this program in the future and feel very, very good with our current recruiting class and also the kids we're involved with right now, coming down to the final weeks of their recruiting process before they make a final decision.

Q: Why was Reeves Nelson given so many chances?

BEN HOWLAND: I can’t speak about specifics relating to any player in terms if the law, but I'll tell you this: I've always been about my players and doing everything I can in my abilities to help them. To help them as men, to help them as basketball players, to help them improve.

UCLA, one of the biggest reasons why I so coveted this job, is I think this institution, this program appeals to kids who are so special and are so wonderful. We have an unbelievable support system here for our players in reference to helping them off the floor.

We've got an unbelievable counseling center, I know in the article for example there were assertions of drug and alcohol abuse. We have a great policy in place for our student athletes at UCLA that is educational but is also punitive in terms of discipline.

But my thing is, incumbent on me as a coach, once we have a player in our program to help him realize his potential, to help him improve, to help him overcome obstacles and I truly try to do that with each and every one of my players.

UCLA athletic director Dan Guerrero and chancellor Gene Block held a conference call with reporters Wednesday to discuss a Sports Illustrated report that alleged multiple wrongdoings by basketball coach Ben Howland and his players. The following is a transcript of the call:

GENE BLOCK (opening statement)

Every day, those of us fortunate enough to be associated with this great university take enormous pride in what UCLA represents so it’s particularly disheartening to me and to our Bruin community to be confronted with the types of assertions contained in the Sports Illustrated article about our men’s basketball program.

We all know the special place that UCLA basketball holds on this campus and beyond so any injury to the program is an injury to all of us. Because of this rich legacy we hold ourselves to a higher standard. John Wooden taught us that it’s not only important to take pride in our achievements, but also to take pride in how we live our lives.

There is no question that the story paints a picture of one of our premier programs that causes a great deal of concern. I have questions just like I know you do.

After conferring with Dan Guerrero, we’ve agreed to take whatever steps are necessary to ensure that the Universities policies, procedures and values are aligned with our continued pursuit of excellence. We expect all of our student athletes to abide by our university’s code of conduct at all times and to represent us proudly. At the same time, our players must be respected and provided with an environment that makes their college experience a rich and rewarding one.

Every day so many of our student athletes make us proud through their community involvement, campus leadership, academic achievement and competition on the court and on the field. Many of Ben Howland’s players are among them. Though it wasn’t fun reading the criticisms leveled against us this morning, I know we will be better as a result of them. I’m confident that Dan will be able to move us forward in men’s basketball and continue to lead our outstanding department of athletics.

DAN GUERRERO (opening statement)

When I became the athletic director at my alma mater almost 10 years ago, I was entrusted with leadership of what I believe is the nation’s premier athletic program. Our mission is clear: To provide a comprehensive student athlete experience for 24 sports that builds character, enhances our community and provides opportunities for academic and athletic excellence.

I’m reminded of that mission daily when I watch our more than 700 student athletes strive to be the best that they can be; when I walk by the academic center and watch our collaborative learning team at work; when I see the enthusiasm on the faces of our new football staff as they work late into the night.

Yet I’m also reminded of this core mission today at a time when we might have fallen short of this mission. I am disappointed to the extent that there may be merit in the Sports Illustrated story and that we could have done more for our student athletes and coaches. I’m angry that these alleged actions of a select few could cast doubts on all that is great about UCLA athletics. Yet I am determined to move forward and do everything in my power to ensure that our student athletes and our coaches live up to the values we believe in.

Coach Howland came to UCLA and quickly brought the program back to the nation’s elite, leading the team to three Final Fours with a tremendous group of young men. But he’s not perfect. He’s admitted both publicly and privately some of his shortcomings and mistakes. To be sure, we want to win more championships and do it the right way, which means there are expectations for both on and off the court behavior by Ben.

At UCLA, like our peer institutions, we place a high degree of trust in our head coaches. They in turn place a high degree of trust in their student athletes. But even with that trust, it’s clear that we don’t always meet the standards of expectation.

Federal privacy laws prevent any UCLA official from addressing any specific charges concerning former or current student athletes and therefore I’m unable to provide specific context around a number of the alleged incidences in the article. That said, as it relates to the alleged drug use or alcohol consumption by former and current members of our men’s basketball team, let me state that UCLA has programs in place that address alcohol abuse and a stringent and comprehensive drug testing program administered and supervised by a panel of experts, campus administrators, doctors and lawyers.

The university administration and department leadership take any reports of alleged drug use by our students seriously and we will continue to provide the necessary resources and support for members of our community.

But let me be clear, if in any instance I as a leader of this department or the members of our staff do not follow protocol, or do our very best to do what is in the best interest of our student athletes, then we probably have not lived up to our core mission. Should that be that case, then I will take responsibility for that and I can assure you that this will be remedied.

Coaching and playing basketball or any other spot at UCLA is a privilege and an honor and we’ve always sought to achieve excellence in character, in education, community and of course, also competition. Every coach and player that has ever been a part of UCLA knows that character and values are as important as winning. I’ve been a Bruin for more than 40 years. I know that the expectations of academic and athletic success are lofty and they should be. Yet I also know that high character is not an expectation, it is a requirement for every Bruin for that is what makes UCLA so great.

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