Rumors have been swirling around for months that Pitt men’s basketball coach Ben Howland… Rumors have been swirling around for months that Pitt men’s basketball coach Ben Howland could be leaving the Panthers for the coaching position at UCLA. Prior to the Panthers’ Sweet Sixteen matchup against Marquette Thursday night, newspapers in Minneapolis said Pitt needed to advance to the Final Four in order to help keep Howland.

No one knows if the possibility of losing Howland was on the minds of the Panthers last week, but now that their tournament run is over, it’s definitely on the minds of fans – and with good reason.

Howland met Monday with his players, but did not say whether he would be taking the position at UCLA. Players emerged from the meeting looking upset, but would not comment.

Howland said in a statement released Monday that he met with UCLA athletics director Dan Guerrero and associate athletics director Betsy Stephenson last weekend in California to discuss the men’s basketball coaching position, which was left vacant after the firing of Steve Lavin at the conclusion of the Bruins’ season.

Howland said he felt “compelled to look at this potential opportunity” because of his ties to California. Howland is a native of Cerritos, Calif., and began his collegiate playing career at Santa Barbara City College. He was also an assistant coach at University of California-Santa Barbara from 1982-94 and his parents currently reside in California.

But despite his background, Howland acknowledges that he has an ideal position here at Pitt.

“I have a tremendous situation here,” Howland said. “We are building something very special here and it would take an extraordinary set of circumstances for me to leave.”

But Marc Boehm, Pitt’s interim athletics director, said Howland’s talks with administrators at UCLA took place without permission from Pitt and he cannot comment on the discussion. Howland currently has a contract through 2009.

“He [Howland] has consistently stated that he plans to honor that contract and we hope that will be the case,” Boehm said in a statement released Monday. “We believe that in terms of players, performance, facilities and fans, there are few places in America that compare to the University of Pittsburgh.”