UCLA coach Ben Howland’s first college head-coaching job was at Northern Arizona (1994-99).He built the program from the bottom and got it to the NCAA Tournament before building Pittsburgh (1999-2003) into a national power and now making UCLA a regular to these big games.

“It was a great experience raising a family in Flagstaff,” Howland said. “It was enjoyable living there.”

When Pitt hired Howland from NAU to be its coach in 1999, Pitt alum Sean Miller, now the head coach at Xavier, initially thought that “the people at Pitt were confused.”

“I wondered how that (hire) could be made,” Miller said.

But, as it turned out, Miller said, “That choice was one of the all-time great choices.” He said the school and city should be eternally grateful for how Howland restored Pitt to national prominence and that his top assistant at NAU and Pitt, Jamie Dixon, has continued that after Howland left.

Arizona Republic