UCLA, Ben Howland agree on new contract

UCLA and men’s basketball coach Ben Howland have agreed to a new seven-year contract that will carry through the 2014-15 season.

Howland’s guaranteed salary of $1.97 million for 2008-2009 will rise to $2.3 million in the final year of the contract. He also will have incentive packages that could top out at $235,000.

The contract extension comes after Howland took UCLA to its third straight Final Four and set a school record for victories. The Bruins finished 35-4.

Howland, 51, is also the first UCLA coach since John Wooden to win three straight Pacific-10 Conference titles and has become one of three coaches in history to win at least 30 games in three consecutive seasons.

In a statement, UCLA Athletic Director Dan Guerrero said, “Ben is at the top of his profession and is deserving of this commitment by the university. He has returned UCLA to the nation’s elite.”

Howland, also in the statement, said, “I have said this before but there is no place I would rather be coaching than UCLA. I grew up a Bruin basketball fan and this is my dream job.”

diane.pucin@latimes.com