Howland’s Hoops Camp Has Home in Palisades

Ben Howland has left quite a legacy on the basketball court and in the Palisades. 

Ten years ago, the former UCLA men’s coach started a youth camp  at Palisades High and although he hopes to coach again one day he remains committed to imparting his hoops knowledge to the next generation of players. This summer’s session runs June 9-13 at the PaliHi gym and Howland can’t wait to meet his new pupils.

“I definitely want to coach again, I miss it, but it has to be the right situation,” Howland said from his home in Santa Barbara.  “No matter where I end up I want to keep doing this camp for years to come. Most of our kids are from right there in the Palisades and I really enjoy it. We have a great staff and I always look forward to it.”

Howland coached 10 years in Westwood where he piloted the Bruins to the NCAA Tournament seven times, including three straight Final Four appearances (2006-08) and four Pac-10 Conference regular-season titles, the last in his final season (2012-13).

“I really enjoyed watching the [NCAA] tournament this year,” Howland said. “There were so many great games, so many exciting finishes and what UConn did is unbelievable.”

Howland is one of only a few NCAA Division I coaches to take three different teams to the NCAA tournament (Northern Arizona, Pittsburgh and UCLA). Among the NBA players he has coached are Trevor Ariza, Jordan Farmar, Arron Afflalo, Russell Westbrook, Kevin Love, Jrue Holiday, Darren Collison, Tyler Honeycutt and Shabazz Muhammad.

Open to boys and girls ages 6-12, the camp will run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day and emphasizes defense, rebounding, ball handling, offensive moves, passing and shooting. There will be three-on-three, Hot Shot and free throw competitions, league games and a skills challenge.

Former PaliHi boys basketball coach James Paleno has helped at  Howland’s camp from the start.

“Ben does a great job, he loves the kids and we all enjoy working with him,” Paleno said. “He has a real passion for the game.”

Cost for the week is $125. For more information, visit the website at camphowland.com. To register, call (310) 467-8488, fax (310) 230-7247 or email info@camphowland.com.