How MSU, Howland agreed to a four-year, $8.2 million deal

STARKVILLE -- The details behind how Scott Stricklin courted Ben Howland became were revealed as Mississippi State introduced its 20th head basketball coach in program history Tuesday.

MSU transitioned from its 19th, Rick Ray, to Howland in less than three days. The end result was a four-year deal worth $8.2 million that was finalized Monday in Atlanta.

"I think this is a special place," Howland said. " I know that (my wife) Kim and I will be very happy here because of the community and the type of people in this community. That's really important to me. To play and compete against the very best in the country in the SEC excites me."

Mississippi State's men's basketball position officially opened at noon on Saturday. Stricklin announced Howland's hire at 7 p.m. on Monday.

The quick turnaround made many believe Stricklin and Howland talked prior to MSU firing Ray.

"When my thought process started ending on a certain point as far as making a change I sent some feelers out just to get a sense for what he's thinking," Stricklin said. "I was optimistic, but it's surprising how fast it can go sometimes. And in this case probably because we weren't talking to three or four people. ​"

The relationship between the two dates back to when Stricklin was at Kentucky and Howland coached at UCLA. When a spot a MSU opened the two began talking again.

Stricklin said that he and Howland exchanged phone calls on Saturday evening, which continued through Sunday. On Monday, they met in Atlanta to finalize the deal.

"There was no question in my mind there was one target we had to start with," Stricklin said. "And that was Ben Howland."

After the deal was agreed upon, the families of Stricklin and Howland met at Mark Keenum's house for dinner. MSU's president told Howland all he needed to know to succeed in Starkville.

"One thing that he made very clear to me (Monday) night," Howland said. "You must beat Ole Miss."