UConn students look to the future

STORRS, Conn. (WTNH) -- The big news on the UConn campus is the retirement of Hall of Fame men's basketball coach Jim Calhoun.

The announcement has UConn students and staffers buzzing.

In essence, the story has been written for years, each chapter marked by sold out seats, blue and white banners, diamond rings. One man's journey, that many feel they were a part of, in one way or another.

"Jim Calhoun, 1999, I was watching the NCAA National Championship with my dad," UConn Junior Shane Russo remembered.

What Calhoun created was more than just success in sport. A culture was born, a winning culture, an expectation among many that if you were a student here, you were part of something special, something big.

"I've always wanted to come here for the reason that, Geno with the women, Jim with the men," Russo said. "It's the main reason I wanted to come here to UConn."

For those who will pine for the coach's past they won't have to venture very far to see sow of his success. There are, of course, the national championship trophies in the alumni center at the basketball rotunda, and then you can always find plenty of pictures.

"When you experience it, when you're growing up, it's part of your lifestyle, and then it's gone" said UConn Junior Adel Crona. "It's going to be weird, but I think it's going to be okay."

It has been said time and again we cannot live in the past. The joy of a legacy, however, is that we learn from it, build from it, and joyfully celebrate it.

"It's kind of sad seeing such a huge figure at UConn leaving when we're coming in, but it's kind of exciting too to see the new regime come into UConn," said Freshman Sean Reilly.