High school
Calhoun began his coaching career at Lyme-Old Lyme High School in Old Lyme, Connecticut in the 1968–69 season after accepting a sixth grade teaching position in that town over the summer. After finishing 1–17 that season, Calhoun returned to Massachusetts after deciding not to complete the necessary certification paperwork to renew his teaching contract (he was certified in Massachusetts and working in Conn. only on a temporary certificate). He then coached one season at Westport (Massachusetts) High.
In 1970, Calhoun accepted a position at Dedham High School as a history / social studies teacher and began building a very strong program. [7] In addition to teaching, he was the school's varsity basketball coach and the assistant freshman football coach. [7] In the two years before Calhoun began coaching, the basketball team had only won five games in the previous two seasons. [7] During his first season, the Dedham Marauders went 6–12. [7]
After his first season, Calhoun began a summer basketball league that played five nights a week. [7] The next year, during the 1971–72 season, the team had an undefeated 18–0 season. [7] This was only the second time in Bay State Conference history that a team went undefeated. [7] During the Bay State Conference championship game, there were two seconds left on the clock when the Marauders were playing Needham High School. [8] [9] There was two seconds left on the clock when Charlie Baker inbounded the ball. [9] [8] A Dedham player, Jeff Dillion, stole the ball, laid it up, and Dedham won the game by one point. [8] [9] The team entered the TECH Tournament as the number one seed but lost to North Quincy High School in the semifinals at the Boston Garden. [7]
Calhoun was the guest speaker at the 1995 Dedham High School boys basketball championship banquet, the graduation speaker for Dedham High School's class of 2011, and a member of the 2023 class of inductees to the Dedham High School Athletic Hall of Fame. [7]
UConn
On May 14, 1986, Calhoun was named the head coach at UConn. After completing his first season just 9–19, Calhoun led the Huskies to a 20–14 record in 1988 and a bid to National Invitation Tournament, where they defeated Ohio State to win the NIT championship. In 1990, Calhoun was named the consensus National Coach of the Year after leading the Huskies to their first Big East Conference championship, the NCAA tournament Elite Eight, and a 29–6 record in only his fourth year at the helm.
Calhoun won his first NCAA national championship in 1999, as he led UConn to its first Final Four, ultimately defeating Duke in the championship game in St. Petersburg, Florida. Future NBA standout Richard "Rip" Hamilton led the team to a 77–74 victory. Earlier that year, Calhoun had passed Hugh Greer to become the winningest coach in UConn history.
Calhoun led the Huskies to another national championship in 2004, at the conclusion of a season that saw UConn start and complete the year as the number one team in the nation. UConn standouts Emeka Okafor and Ben Gordon were selected No. 2 and No. 3 in the NBA draft, respectively. Calhoun now holds a 35–12 record with UConn in NCAA tournament play including 3–1 in the Final Four. They lost in the first round for the first time on March 21, 2008, in overtime to San Diego.
During the Jim Calhoun era, the Huskies did well in the Big East Conference with an impressive 220–112 record (.665 winning percentage). The Huskies won or shared conference titles in 1990, 1994–1996, 1998–1999, 2002, 2003 and 2005–2006. UConn also won seven Big East men's basketball tournament championships in 1990, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2004, and 2011.
On March 2, 2005, he achieved his 700th win at Gampel Pavilion over the Georgetown Hoyas. His friend and Big East rival coach Jim Boeheim also won his 700th game during the previous week. Later in 2005, Coach Calhoun was honored by induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, fittingly, along with Boeheim. On February 25, 2009, he achieved his 800th win at the Bradley Center over Marquette.
Calhoun was the first coach in NCAA history to have won at least 240 games at two different Division I schools. [10] Eddie Sutton later achieved this same feat.
Calhoun also coached 23 UConn players who have moved on to professional ranks. [11]
Calhoun signed a five-year, $16 million contract until 2014. [12]
On April 4, 2011, Calhoun won his third NCAA title as the Huskies defeated Butler 53–41. The victory over Butler made Calhoun, at 68, the oldest coach to win an NCAA Division I men's basketball title. With the win, Calhoun joined John Wooden, Adolph Rupp, Bob Knight, and Mike Krzyzewski as the only coaches to win at least 3 national championships.
On September 13, 2012, Calhoun announced his retirement and the head coaching position was given to assistant coach Kevin Ollie, who eventually was named the permanent head coach.
Sanctions
In March 2009, the NCAA investigated potential violations in UConn's recruitment of Nate Miles (a scholarship recipient expelled without playing a single game for the Huskies). [13] The NCAA eventually determined that a former UConn team manager, who was attempting to become an NBA agent, helped guide Miles to UConn by giving him lodging, transportation and meals. The former team manager, Josh Nochimson, was deemed a UConn representative under NCAA rules and his actions were therefore ascribed to UConn. As a result, in February 2011, Calhoun was cited by the NCAA for failing to create an atmosphere of compliance and suspended for the first three Big East games of 2011–2012 season. The NCAA's chairman of the Committee on Infractions stated, after the penalty was announced, that "the head coach should be aware, but, also in the same frame, the head coach obviously cannot be aware of everything that goes on within the program. However, the head coach bears that responsibility." [14] The school admitted that it had committed major NCAA violations. [15]
Health problems
On February 3, 2003, Calhoun announced that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer. He took an immediate leave of absence from the team and underwent surgery three days later to have his prostate removed. He was released from the hospital on February 9 and within days was once again involved in the day-to-day operation of the program. On February 22 Jim Calhoun returned to the sidelines for the team's matchup with St. John's at Gampel Pavilion, only 16 days after the surgery.
On May 30, 2008, UConn announced that Calhoun was undergoing treatment for squamous cell carcinoma. [16]
On June 13, 2009, Calhoun fell during a charity bike event and broke five ribs. [17]
On January 19, 2010, Calhoun took a leave of absence from the team again for health reasons. Calhoun had a "serious" condition that he wanted to discuss with his family. [18] Calhoun returned to the court to coach the Huskies on February 13.
On February 3, 2012, Calhoun took a medical leave of absence from coaching as a result of spinal stenosis. [19] He returned on March 3, 2012, less than a week after having back surgery, to coach the team to a win over Pittsburgh in the final game of the regular season. [20]
After a left hip fracture, he received while bike riding on August 4, 2012, Calhoun had surgery that same day. [21]
During E:60's Calhoun Project documentary, it was revealed that Calhoun had beat Stage 4 stomach cancer at the beginning of his first season at the University of Saint Joseph, a cancer he had for two years. [22]
Retirement
Calhoun retired as Connecticut's basketball coach on September 13, 2012, closing a 26-year career at UConn. [23]
