LOS ANGELES, Feb. 29 (UPI) -- UCLA head basketball coach Ben Howland, who kicked the leading scorer and rebounder off the team in December, says his level of discipline is appropriate.
Howland was asked at his weekly news conference Tuesday whether he had handled players guilty of bad behavior correctly.
"Yeah, for the most part, I have," he said when pressed for a response. "You're speaking in generalities. No one is perfect. I would never claim to be that person," he said. "Everybody makes mistakes. I'm definitely not perfect."
The questioning was prompted by a Sports Illustrated story that described UCLA basketball as a program out of control with undisciplined prima donna players, the Los Angeles Times reported. SI spoke with a dozen players and staff as well as several former players who talked about alcohol and drug use by players, ESPN said.
Last season, Howland suspended forward Reeve Nelson, the top scorer and rebounder, twice before finally bouncing him from the squad.
He refused to comment on whether he was aware of drug problems of any player.
"Specifically, I can't talk about any former player or student relative to having to do with that," he said.
"We have a comprehensive drug policy here at UCLA where any time someone fails a random drug test, I'm alerted, the trainer is alerted and the person overseeing the drug policy here."
