Howland conference call about Nelson dismissal

UCLA head coach Ben Howland on the decision to dismiss Reeves Nelson:
“This hopefully, for his sake, is going to be something that is real, something that is going to have a drastic effect on him if he doesn’t behave appropriately and fit in. He’s going to have to make some choices and I’m hoping that by the severity of this he can learn from it.”

On making the decision now:
“I didn’t want to turn this into a thing where this was the focus. For the best interest of the program and of the team and of UCLA basketball, I felt it was most appropriate to make this decision going forward.”

On where the team goes from here:
“Honestly I think it will be a positive for our team. The distraction of all this has not been a positive. The negativity is not a positive for a team. When I suspended him the first time, the two practices we had after that were the best this year that we’ve had. Hopefully this is going to be a unifying thing.”

On how he feels he handled the situation:
“Hindsight is always 20-20. If I had been a professional basketball coach, he probably would’ve been dismissed earlier. Reeves is actually a kid who just turned 20 this summer, started college early at 17, and this is education. We’re trying to help kids grow and mature and I’m one that’s an optimist and wants to hope and believe and try to help kids grow and improve. It came to a point where it was too much of a negative and a distraction.”

On discussions with Nelson’s parents:
“I spoke to both his mom and dad this week and this morning. It’s really hard.”

On his future with Nelson:
“I’m not going to stop trying to help him. I’m going to keep trying to help him, advise him, communicate with him about his future. This doesn’t end my relationship with Reeves Nelson. My relationship with Reeves will continue.”