Calhoun announces retirement

STORRS, Conn. (WTNH) -- Hall of Fame UConn men's basketball coach Jim Calhoun has announced his retirement.

Calhoun took over a regional program at the University of Connecticut in May 1986 and built it into a three-time NCAA champion and a perennial national power.

“I always said that I would know when it was time, whenever that might be,” said Calhoun, who made the official announcement Thursday afternoon at a news conference at Gampel Pavilion on UConn’s Storrs campus. “The hip injury really didn’t enter into the decision, except that it gave me more time to think about it and the more I thought about it, the more I became convinced that this was the right time to move on to the next phase of my life.”

Kevin Ollie, an assistant coach at the University of Connecticut for the past two seasons, has been named the new head men’s basketball coach.

Calhoun, 70, will continue his association with the university as a Special Assistant to Athletic Director Warde Manuel.

“The agreement runs until March 21, 2013,” Calhoun said. “Then we’ll look at everything and go from there.”

Upon his full retirement from the university, Calhoun will become Head Coach Emeritus.

The Huskies have won a record seven BIG EAST Tournament championships and 10 regular-season league titles. UConn is the only league team to ever sweep the BIG EAST regular-season and tournament crowns in back-to-back seasons (1997-98, 1998-99).

Calhoun’s accomplishments brought him basketball’s ultimate honor when he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2005. The following year, he was named as a member of the Founding Class of the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame.

His numerous awards include the prestigious John R. Wooden “Legends of Coaching” Award in 2005, and he was the first BIG EAST coach to win the conference’s Coach of the Year award four times (1989-90, ‘93-‘94,’ 95-‘96, and ‘97-‘98).

Calhoun’s final record in 40 years as a head coach stands at 873-380, which ranks sixth on the all-time wins list, while his 1,253 games coached is third all-time. He is 625-243 at UConn, by far the school’s winningest coach. Calhoun is 311-183 in BIG EAST competition, second in all-time wins, and his 35-19 record in the BIG EAST tourney also ranks second all-time.  

Nationally, the Huskies’ coach has eight 30-win seasons, third all-time, and he ranks sixth all-time with 25 20-win seasons. Calhoun is fourth all-time with 49 NCAA Tournament wins (49-18). His overall national postseason record is 62-20 with four championships (3 NCAA, 1 NIT).

“Coaching at UConn has just been phenomenal, there’s no other way to describe it,” Calhoun said. “I will always be grateful to the University of Connecticut. When I look back and see what we were able to accomplish here, I am extremely proud.”