Meet Head Coach Jim Calhoun

During the past 15 years, University of Connecticut head basketball coach Jim Calhoun has steadily built UConn Basketball into one of the elite college programs in the nation.

On March 29, 1999, Coach Calhoun capped his remarkable transformation of the Connecticut basketball program when UConn won the 1999 NCAA Division I National Championship, beating Duke 77-74 in the title game at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.

UConn basketball, under the astute leadership of Jim Calhoun, compiled a stunning 34-2 overall record in 1998-99. The Huskies continued their domination of the BIG EAST Conference, winning the league’s regular season and tournament titles. Connecticut then confidently marched to six consecutive NCAA wins, including the national championship victory over heavily-favored Duke. Connecticut became the first school since 1966 to win the NCAA Championship in its first-ever trip to the “Final Four”.

The ultimate success of winning the NCAA National Championship in March of 1999 capped a brilliant decade of excellence for Connecticut Basketball and head coach Jim Calhoun. During the 1990s, Jim Calhoun ranked No. 3 in the nation among all NCAA Division I head coaches with 257 victories (25.7 per year) and was No. 4 nationally in total NCAA wins with 20.

The first move toward national prominence for the University of Connecticut basketball program began in May of 1986 when Jim Calhoun was named head coach.

Fifteen years later, UConn Basketball sits atop the college basketball landscape as an NCAA National Champion and a regular member of the elite National Top 25 collegiate polls.

One collegiate basketball writer, authoring an article on Connecticut Basketball for a national publication, said it best when he noted, “Bringing the UConn program to this point from where it was when he (Calhoun) took over is nothing short of miraculous”.

When he arrived at Connecticut as the 17th head coach of men’s basketball on May 15, 1986, Jim Calhoun immediately began to chart a new course for success. He promised to “do it the right way, with no short cuts”. He noted he wanted to establish a program at UConn which would annually be called one of the top programs in the nation.

Jim Calhoun will be in his 16th year as head coach of the Connecticut Basketball program in 2001-2002. He has the Husky program positioned for continued success on the national college basketball stage. In his 15 seasons at Connecticut, Jim Calhoun’s teams have compiled an overall record of 349-142, an average of 23.3 victories per season and the winningest period in UConn’s proud 100-year basketball history.

In the decade of the 1990s (1989-90 season through 1998-99), UConn’s overall record was a stunning 257-74, an average of 25.7 wins each season. In that same 10-year span the Huskies were an equally impressive 127-49 in BIG EAST Conference competition. Both the overall and league record compiled by Connecticut in that 10-year span ranked No. 1 among all 13 BIG EAST schools. In 1998-99, UConn became the only program in BIG EAST history to win the league’s regular season and tournament championships in back-to-back seasons.

Other note-worthy accomplishments of the Connecticut Basketball program under the direction of head coach Jim Calhoun include:

· UConn has won the BIG EAST Conference regular season title six times in the past 12 years (1990, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999), including winning outright possession of the crown an unprecedented five of the past eight seasons.

· UConn has won the BIG EAST Conference tournament title four times (1990, 1996, 1998, 1999).

· UConn has earned seven NCAA “Sweet 16” berths during the last 12 seasons and the Huskies have advanced to the NCAA “Elite 8” four times in the past 12 years (1990, 1995, 1998, 1999).

· UConn has established all-time BIG EAST Conference records for league wins in a one-year (17), two-year (33), three-year (49), four-year (56), five-year (71), six-year (87), and seven-year (97) period.

· UConn has been ranked in the Top 10 in the final AP National poll six times in the past 12 seasons (3rd in 1990, 4th in 1994, 8th in 1995, 3rd in 1996, 6th in 1998, 3rd in 1999).

· UConn has posted an impressive 33-11 record in national post-season play during the past 14 seasons (21-7 in NCAA play, 12-4 in NIT play).

· UConn won the 1988 National Invitation Tournament (NIT).

· UConn established a single-season school record with 34 wins (34-2) during the 1998-99 national championship season.

· UConn is one of only eight Division I programs in the country to have earned a national post-season tournament berth in each of the past 14 seasons.

· UConn was honored as the ECAC (Eastern College Athletic Conference) Team of the Year in 1999, the third time in the decade of the 1990s (also in 1990 and 1994) the Huskies had received that award.

For his personal efforts in building Connecticut Basketball into one of the nation’s top programs, Jim Calhoun has earned a host of coaching honors.

After directing Connecticut to the NCAA National Championship, Jim Calhoun received the 1999 “Winged Foot Award” from the New York Athletic Club, recognizing him as their National Coach of the Year. He also received the prestigious Victor Award as 1998-99 College Basketball National Coach of the Year and was the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Distrist I Coach of the Year.

In March of 1990, at the conclusion of only his fourth season as head coach of the Huskies, Jim Calhoun was the consensus choice as the 1989-90 “College Basketball National Coach of the Year”. He guided UConn to a 31-6 overall record as the Huskies won both the BIG EAST regular season and tournament titles and advanced to the NCAA “Elite Eight”. He was named “National Coach of the Year” by five different organizations (Associated Press, United Press International, The Sporting News, CBS-TV Sports, Basketball Weekly).

Despite only coaching in the BIG EAST for 15 of the league’s 22 seasons, Jim Calhoun is the only coach in the history of the BIG EAST Conference to have been named BIG EAST Conference “Coach of the Year” four times, He earned his first BIG EAST “Coach of the Year” award in 1989-90 and also won the honor following the 1993-94, 1995-96 and 1997-98 seasons. John Thompson of Georgetown and Lou Carnesecca of St. John’s each earned the prestigious honor three times.

Despite his tremendous achievements during his 15 years at Connecticut, success has been part of Jim Calhoun’s entire career as a collegiate head basketball coach.

In 29 seasons as a head coach on the NCAA Division I collegiate level, Jim Calhoun’s overall collegiate head coaching record is 599-279 (68.2% winning effort). That includes a 250-137 record in 14 seasons as head coach at Northeastern (MA) University and his 349-142 mark in 15 years at Connecticut.

In addition to the outstanding won-loss record he’s compiled as a collegiate head coach, Jim Calhoun’s post-season national tournament record is truly remarkable. During the past 21 seasons, Jim Calhoun-coached teams have earned national tournament berths 19 times (14 NCAA, 5 NIT). At Northeastern, he earned NCAA bids in five of the last six years he directed that program. At Connecticut, he and his Huskies have played in 14 consecutive post-season national tournaments.

In his 15 years at Connecticut, Jim Calhoun has compiled a stunning 33-11 overall record in national post-season tournament competition (21-7 in NCAA play, 12-4 in NIT play). Coach Calhoun’s winning percentage for national post-season tournament play while at UConn (33-11=75.0%) is better than his overall winning percentage at Connecticut (349-142=71.1%). His 21 NCAA wins at UConn, all achieved in the past 12 years, far outdistances the entire total of four NCAA victories recorded at Connecticut before Coach Calhoun took over the Husky basketball program in the spring of 1986.

In addition to directing Connecticut to the 1999 NCAA National Championship, Jim Calhoun has led UConn to nine NCAA bids in the past 12 years. Under Calhoun’s direction, UConn has never lost an NCAA First Round game, the Huskies have earned seven NCAA “Sweet 16” berths in the past 12 years, and Connecticut advanced to the NCAA “Elite 8” in 1990, 1995, 1998, and 1999.

On January 23, 1999, Jim Calhoun became Connecticut’s winningest coach when the Huskies beat Seton Hall to hand Coach Calhoun his 287th victory at UConn. He passed the late Hugh Greer who posted 286 wins in a 17-year career from 1946 to 1963. Jim Calhoun completed the 1998-99 national championship season with 304 coaching wins at Connecticut. His 300th win at UConn (achieved with an NCAA Second Round win over New Mexico in March of 1999) was also his 550th career victory.

During the 1999-2000 season, Jim Calhoun directed the 1999-2000 Huskies to a 25-win season (25-10 overall) and UConn earned another berth in the NCAA Championship Tournament.

In 2000-2001, Jim Calhoun closed in on another lofty plateau—600 victories as a Division I head coach. UConn earned its 11th 20-win season (20-12) during Coach Calhoun’s 15 years in Storrs, claiming the school’s 14th consecutive national post-season tournament berth and advancing to the second round of the NIT. Jim Calhoun will enter the 2001-2002 season with 599 college coaching wins, placing him No. 11 in the nation in total wins among active NCAA Division I coaches. His first regular season victory in 2001-2002 will see him become the 26th coach in NCAA Division I basketball history to reach the 600-win level.

One of Jim Calhoun’s most impressive coaching statistics is his 15-year record of 62-28 (68.9%) registered at UConn during the month of March. In his 15 seasons in charge of the Connecticut program, Jim Calhoun’s record in the month of March is as follows: 10-6 in regular season play, 19-11 in BIG EAST Tournament play, 21-7 in NCAA play, 12-4 in NIT play.

Prior to taking over the UConn program in May of 1986, Jim Calhoun had led Northeastern University to five NCAA berths from 1981 to 1986. Including all NCAA and NIT appearances as a collegiate head coach, Jim Calhoun’s overall national post-season tournament record is 36-16. His combined total of 24 NCAA wins (21 at UConn, 3 at Northeastern) places Jim Calhoun No. 16 on the all-time college coaching list for career NCAA victories.

Jim Calhoun’s unique ability to mold a college basketball program into a national success story has been vividly depicted in his work at Connecticut.

Connecticut Basketball under head coach Jim Calhoun has achieved a unique “double”, winning both the 1999 NCAA Division I National Championship as well as the 1988 National Invitation Tournament (NIT) Championship.

The 1999 NCAA Championship completed a clean sweep in 1998-99 for the Huskies. UConn won both the regular season and tournament titles in the BIG EAST Conference. The Huskies were the No. 1 seed in the West Region of the 64-team NCAA Tournament and Connecticut ran off six straight NCAA victories to finish the year with a single-season school record 34 wins and claim the national championship. UConn, which had been ranked No. 1 in the nation for 10 consecutive weeks during the regular season, finished the year ranked No. 1 in the nation in the final USA Today/ESPN Top 25 poll.

Eleven years before winning the 1999 NCAA Championship, Jim Calhoun brought his first national title home to the Storrs campus as his Huskies claimed the 51st annual National Invitation Tournament (NIT) title in March of 1988, beating Ohio State 72-67 in the NIT championship game at Madison Square Garden. Ironically, UConn beat Ohio State in the 1999 NCAA national semifinals, en route to its second national title.

The 1988 trip to the NIT, and the eventual championship, began what is an unbroken string of 14 consecutive trips to national post-season tournament play for Jim Calhoun and the Connecticut basketball program.

Following the 1988 NIT Championship, in March of 1989, UConn was back in national post-season tournament competition, advancing to the quarter-finals of the NIT.

In 1989-90, only his fourth year in charge of the UConn program, Jim Calhoun was recognized as the consensus choice as “National Coach of the Year”. He directed Connecticut to a 31-6 overall record as the squad finished the year ranked No. 3 in the nation by AP and No. 5 in the country by USA Today. The Huskies won both the regular season and tournament titles in the BIG EAST Conference, added three NCAA wins, and just missed a spot in the NCAA “Final Four” when UConn lost in overtime to Duke by one point in a memorable NCAA “Elite 8” game. Coach Calhoun won his first BIG EAST “Coach of the Year” trophy and was also honored as the New England Basketball Coaches Association “Coach of the Year”. UConn was honored as the ECAC and New England “Team of the Year”.

In 1990-91, UConn was most impressive down the stretch, winning six of its final seven BIG EAST regular season games to earn another NCAA berth. The Huskies racked up a pair of NCAA wins over LSU and Xavier in Midwest Regional play in Minneapolis to advance to another “Sweet 16” game where Connecticut bowed to eventual national champion Duke. The Huskies ended the year with 20 wins and were ranked No. 15 in the country in the final USA Today national poll.

In 1991-92, Connecticut earned its third straight NCAA Championship bid, traveling to Cincinnati, Ohio for the Southeast Regionals where the Huskies easily rolled past Nebraska, 86-65, before losing in second round play to No. 1 seed Ohio State.

In 1992-93, UConn qualified for its sixth consecutive national post-season tournament, playing in the NIT.

In 1993-94, Connecticut began an unprecedented period of dominance in the BIG EAST Conference which has resulted in numerous long-standing league marks falling in the wake of UConn’s continuing success story.

The 1993-94 Huskies set a then single-season BIG EAST record for wins by posting a 16-2 league mark in winning the regular season championship by a conference record three full games as Jim Calhoun won his second BIG EAST “Coach of the Year” trophy and was also honored as the Kodak District I “Coach of the Year”, the New England “Coach of the Year”, and Basketball America’s East Regional “Coach of the Year”. The Connecticut Basketball program posted a 26-3 regular season record and ended the year 29-5 overall, finishing No. 4 in the nation in the final AP poll and No. 7 in the nation in the final USA Today poll. UConn advanced to national post-season play for the seventh consecutive year, earning its fourth bid to the NCAA Championship in a five-year span. Seeded No. 2 in the East Region, UConn swept through the NCAA First and Second Rounds and secured its third berth in the NCAA “Sweet 16” in the last five-year period. Connecticut lost a 69-60 overtime decision in Miami to the University of Florida, a club which advanced to the NCAA “Final Four”.

In 1994-95, the Huskies again dominated the BIG EAST. UConn compiled an overall record of 28-5, won the BIG EAST regular season title for the second consecutive year and tied the then league record of 16-2. Connecticut was ranked in the National Top 10 throughout the year, advancing to its first-ever No. 1 in the nation ranking the week of February 13, 1995. UConn ended the season ranked No. 6 in the nation by USA Today. Connecticut was the No. 2 seed in the West Region of the NCAA Championship and rolled past Tennessee-Chattanooga and Cincinnati to advance to the NCAA “Sweet 16” for the fourth time in the past six years. After beating No. 3 seed Maryland (99-89) in the regional semi-finals, the Huskies dropped a 102-96 decision to eventual national champion UCLA in the West Regional title game in Oakland. Jim Calhoun was recognized by both the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) as the NCAA District I “Coach of the Year” and he again claimed New England “Coach of the Year” honors. In addition, for the second straight season, Coach Calhoun was one of five finalists for the Naismith National Coach of the Year Award.

The 1995-96 Huskies continued to be the best in the BIG EAST, and one of the best teams in the nation. UConn won the BIG EAST regular season title for an unprecedented third consecutive year and broke its own single-season win mark in league play by finishing 17-1 against the 12 BIG EAST opponents. The 17-1 mark, combined with UConn’s matching 16-2 records for each of the previous two BIG EAST seasons, established all-time BIG EAST standards for league victories in a one-year (17), two-year (33), and three-year (49) span. The Huskies would finish the regular season with a single-season school record win mark of 27-2, including a UConn and BIG EAST record 23-game winning streak. UConn also won the 1996 BIG EAST Tournament Championship, was the No. 1 seed in the Southeast Region of the NCAA Championship, and advanced to the “Sweet 16” for the fifth time in the past seven years. UConn ended the season ranked No. 3 in the nation by AP and No. 8 in the country by USA Today. Jim Calhoun was named BIG EAST “Coach of the Year” for the third time, joining Lou Carnesecca and John Thompson as the only three-time winners of the award.

When totaling the basketball success at Connecticut during a three-year period (1993-94 to 1995-96), the Huskies were 87-12 overall and 49-5 in BIG EAST play. UConn was the wire-to-wire first place team in the BIG EAST Conference for three consecutive years (54 consecutive games).

In 1996-97, Jim Calhoun’s young Huskies, starting three freshmen and two sophomores, came on strong during another run into national post-season competition, posting a 4-1 record in the 60th National Invitation Tournament to finish third in the 32-team NIT field.

Jim Calhoun’s 1997-98 UConn team, playing without a four-year senior on the roster, established a then Connecticut single-season record of 32 wins (32-5 overall) which would stand for only one year. UConn claimed outright possession of the BIG EAST regular season title for the fourth time in a five-year period and the Huskies added their second BIG EAST Tournament title in a three-year span. Connecticut earned its 11th consecutive national post-season tournament berth and beat Fairleigh Dickinson and Indiana to notch its sixth NCAA “Sweet 16” bid in a nine-year stretch. UConn then nipped Washington on a buzzer-beating shot by Richard “Rip” Hamilton to advance to its third NCAA “Elite 8” game in the 1990s where the Huskies lost in Greensboro, NC to home-standing North Carolina. Connecticut finished the year ranked No. 6 in the nation in the AP poll and No. 7 in the USA Today poll. It marked the fourth time in five seasons that the Huskies had ended the season ranked in the National Top 10. Jim Calhoun was named BIG EAST Conference “Coach of the Year” for the fourth time in a brief nine-year period, becoming the only head coach in league history to win the award four times.

During the 1997-98 season, Jim Calhoun reached a number of impressive coaching milestones. On December 30, 1997, in a victory over Fairfield University at the Hartford Civic Center, Jim Calhoun recorded his 500th win as a college basketball head coach. In addition to joining an elite group of college coaches with 500 career wins, he became the only Division I coach in New England college basketball history with at least 500 career head coaching victories. Jim Calhoun will enter the 2001-2002 season as the winningest coach in New England college basketball history with 599 college coaching victories.

The triumph over Fairfield was his 250th win as head coach at Connecticut. That vaulted Jim Calhoun into a unique category as he became the only coach in NCAA college basketball history to have recorded at least 250 wins at two different Division I schools. He will enter the 2001-2002 season having notched 250 wins at Northeastern and 349 wins at Connecticut.

In the 10-year period of the 1990s (1989-90 through 1998-99), the UConn Basketball program led the BIG EAST Conference in total wins (257/25.7 per season), and regular season conference wins (127). UConn won six BIG EAST regular season championships (1990, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999), won four BIG EAST Tournament titles (1990, 1996, 1998, 1999), made appearances in eight of 10 NCAA Championships (including winning an NCAA Championship, making four trips to the “Elite 8”, and seven trips to the “Sweet 16”), and recorded a league-leading 20 NCAA victories.

Much like his success at Connecticut, Jim Calhoun’s performance as head coach at Northeastern (MA) University in Boston for 14 seasons, was nothing short of sensational. He developed a program from Division II status to a nationally-recognized squad which became a perennial NCAA Division I tournament team. At NU, Jim Calhoun won 20 or more games in five of his last six seasons, chalked up a brilliant 135-47 record during that span, and earned five NCAA Division I tournament berths.

His final three years at Northeastern resulted in NCAA automatic bids each season and a three-year mark of 75-19.

At Northeastern, Jim Calhoun became the winningest coach in school history (250-137) as his teams averaged 17.9 wins per season. He was a three-time New England “Coach of the Year” and a three-time Kodak District I “Coach of the Year”.

In leaving Northeastern in 1986 to take over the Connecticut program, Coach Calhoun left perhaps the most talented team in the school’s history and a first round NBA draft pick in senior Reggie Lewis, who later became captain of the Boston Celtics before his untimely death during the summer of 1993.

As was the case at Northeastern, Jim Calhoun’s success at producing top-flight collegiate stars who also excel at the professional basketball level, is an annual happening at Connecticut. A total of 14 former UConn stars who played for Coach Calhoun have been part of the National Basketball Association (NBA). They include: Clifford Robinson (Detroit Pistons/Phoenix Suns/Portland Trail Blazers), Tate George (New Jersey Nets), Chris Smith (Minnesota Timberwolves), Scott Burrell (New Jersey Nets/Chicago Bulls/Charlotte Hornets), Donyell Marshall (Utah Jazz/Golden State Warriors), Donny Marshall (Cleveland Cavaliers), Kevin Ollie (Chicago Bulls/Philadelphia 76ers/Orlando Magic), Ray Allen (Milwaukee Bucks), Travis Knight (Los Angeles Lakers/Boston Celtics/New York Knicks), Doron Sheffer (Los Angeles Clippers), Richard Hamilton (Washington Wizards), Khalid El-Amin (Chicago Bulls/Dallas Mavericks), Jake Voskuhl (Chicago Bulls), Ricky Moore (Charlotte Hornets).

A former Little All-American and All-New England player at American International College in Springfield, MA, Calhoun graduated from AIC in 1968 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Sociology. At AIC, he lettered three years while leading the Yellow Jacket basketball team in scoring as a junior and senior. He captained his alma mater in his senior year and left the school as the fourth all-time leading scorer along with helping the school earn an NCAA Division II playoff berth. He is a member of the AIC Hall of Fame and in the summer of 1994 earned the prestigious distinction of being elected to serve as a member of the American International College Board of Trustees. In the spring of 2000, at AIC’s 115th graduation exercises, Jim Calhoun served as the main commencement speaker and received an honorary degree from his alma mater.

Jim Calhoun began his coaching career at AIC, serving as an assistant basketball coach from 1966-68. After one year as head coach of basketball at Old Lyme High School in Connecticut, and one year as head coach of Westport HS in Westport, MA, Jim Calhoun moved on to become head coach at Dedham HS in Massachusetts. He quickly rebuilt that program, fashioning a 21-1 record in 1971-72 and seeing his club advance to the State Division I semi-finals.

In October of 1972, he moved into the collegiate coaching ranks at Northeastern University in Boston. His first team in 1972-73 compiled a 19-7 record, earning him the runner-up spot to Dave Gavitt of Providence College in balloting for New England Coach of the Year.

In the years to follow, the Northeastern Huskies would dominate the ECAC North Atlantic Conference under the guidance of Jim Calhoun. Northeastern won the league’s regular season title four times and shared the top spot two other times in seven years of conference play. NU also won five of the seven league tournaments and Coach Calhoun’s record against conference competition in his career at NU was 74-13. While at Northeastern, he was inducted into the NU Sports Hall of Fame.

A graduate of Braintree (MA) High School, Jim Calhoun was a three-sport letter winner in football, basketball and baseball. As a senior captain, he earned All-Bay State League honors in football and basketball. His hometown of Braintree has bestowed a singular honor on Coach Calhoun, naming outdoor basketball courts in a city facility “Calhoun Park”. He continues to return to Braintree to speak and conduct basketball clinics for area youths.

A noted banquet speaker and clinician, Coach Calhoun has lectured throughout the United States and in several foreign countries. He is a member of the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and has served on numerous committees, including the Hall of Fame nomination committee. In the spring of 2000, during the NCAA “Final Four” in Indianapolis, Jim Calhoun represented the NABC as the head coach of the College Senior All-Stars in a game against the Harlem Globetrotters.

In July of 1998, Jim Calhoun was one of an elite group of nationally-known collegiate coaches named to the prestigious John R. Wooden Award Board of Governors. The Wooden Award Board of Governors is chaired by former UCLA coach John Wooden and the vice-chairman is former North Carolina coach Dean Smith. Other coaches on the board include: Jim Boeheim, Syracuse; Gene Keady, Purdue; Mike Krzyzewski, Duke; Rick Majerus, Utah; Mike Montgomery, Stanford; Lute Olson, Arizona; Tubby Smith, Kentucky; Roy Williams, Kansas.

The Immediate Past President of the BIG EAST Conference Coaches’ Association, Jim Calhoun is annually involved in numerous off-season activities as both a coach and lecturer.

In the summer of 1986, shortly after being named head coach at Connecticut, Jim Calhoun served as a coach of the East team in the U.S. Olympic Festival in Houston, TX. In the spring of 1988, he represented the BIG EAST Conference during a coaching clinic tour to Yugoslavia. During the summer of 1990, Coach Calhoun served as head coach of the BIG EAST Conference All-Star team which toured Finland and the Soviet Union. In 1991, he was a member of the USA Basketball selection committee which picked the United States Pan-American Basketball Team.

In the summer of 1993, Jim Calhoun was named Assistant Coach of the USA Men’s Under-22 National Team. In the summer of 1994, he visited Israel as an international guest lecturer as invited by the Israeli Basketball Federation. In 1997, he served as a guest lecturer to the Irish Basketball Federation, and in the spring of 1998 he visited Italy as an international guest lecturer as invited by the Italian Basketball Federation.

In addition to his busy schedule as head coach of the Connecticut basketball program, Jim Calhoun is heavily involved in a number of regional and national charitable and educational efforts.

In November of 1998, Jim Calhoun and his wife Pat donated $125,000 to the cardiology program at the University of Connecticut Health Center, establishing the Calhoun Cardiology Research Fund. During the past three summers (1999-2001), the Mohegan Sun/Jim Calhoun Celebrity Golf Classic has raised more than $525,000 for the Calhoun Cardiology Research Center.

In 1999, Coach Calhoun launched a charitable initiative to help families in need during the holidays—with the Calhoun Thanksgiving Turkey Drive. In 2000, Coach Calhoun again battled hunger with a food drive during the Christmas/Hanukah season. Food was collected in conjunction with IGA Supermarkets, the Doc Hurley Scholarship Foundation, and Foodshare for needy Connecticut families. Coach Calhoun personally donated hundreds of turkeys to the drive.

During 2000-2001, Jim served as Honorary Chairperson for several charitable programs: the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (where Coach Calhoun and his team participate in the annual JDRF Walk-a-Thon held each September); Ronald McDonald House Golf Tournament; the Big Brothers and Big Sisters Fundraising Dinner; and the Ray of Hope Foundation Golf Tournament.

He has been Honorary Chairman of the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center and Children’s Miracle Network as well as serving as Honorary Co-Chairman (along with Connecticut Governor John Rowland) of the “Character Counts” program in the state.

Coach Calhoun has served as a celebrity spokesperson for the State Department of Children and Families (DCF) and the Children’s Trust Fund in the battle against child abuse. He has also been a spokesperson for “Dads Do Make A Difference” which promotes positive role models for today’s youth. He also serves as a spokesman for the Gang Resistance and Education Training program of the East Hartford (CT) School System.

Coach Calhoun has also played a major role with the Homeward Bound Foundation for the benefit of homeless in the City of Hartford.

In addition, Coach Calhoun is active in the Coaches vs. Cancer program sponsored by the American Cancer Society and he is an active supporter of Y-ME, the New England Breast Cancer Awareness and Fight program.

During the spring of 1999, Jim Calhoun became involved in the “Jimmy V Tie Collection”. Coach Calhoun designed a pattern for a tie that was produced with his name and sold to raise funds for the Jimmy V Foundation to fight cancer.

Coach Calhoun has served on the National Advisory Board of the Center for the Study of Sports in Society and has been Honorary Chairman of the Connecticut Sports Museum and Hall of Fame.

In 1990, he was honored by the Franciscan Life Center with the “Saint Francis Award” for his dedication to Christian values and outstanding athletic achievements. In April of 1998, the Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist dedicated an outdoor basketball area, “Calhoun’s Court”, in honor of Jim Calhoun at the Franciscan Life Center in Meriden, CT.

In 1993, Jim Calhoun was honored by the Quinnipiac Council of the Boy Scouts of America with the “Good Scout” Award for his active involvement in projects which benefit citizens of the region.

In March of 2000, Jim Calhoun represented college basketball and the NCAA when he was asked to speak in Washington, DC before a Senate Committee chaired by Senator John McCain on issues related to gambling and college sports.

Coach Calhoun has slipped away from his college basketball coaching duties long enough to run both the Boston and New York Marathons twice each.

During the spring and summer of 1999, after he had directed UConn to the 1999 NCAA National Championship, Jim Calhoun enjoyed several memorable appearances: he was a guest on the Late Show (CBS) with David Letterman; he threw out the first pitch (April 18) at a Boston Red Sox game at Fenway Park; he was the celebrity guest (Aug. 20) signing “Take Me Out To The Ball Game” during the traditional seventh inning stretch at a Chicago Cubs game at Wrigley Field.

Jim Calhoun also completed work on a book during the summer of 1999. “Dare To Dream-Connecticut Basketball’s Remarkable March To The National Championship” is a first-person account by Coach Calhoun of his life as a college coach with specific focus on the 1998-99 season. Working with Coach Calhoun on the book was Leigh Montville, Senior Writer at Sports Illustrated, and a UConn graduate. The book, released in October of 1999, was published by Broadway Books, a division of Bantam Doubleday Dell.

Jim Calhoun and his wife Pat make their home in Mansfield. They have two sons, James and Jeffrey. James and his wife Jennifer reside in London, England with their daughters, Emily and Katie. Jeff and his wife Amy reside in Glastonbury, CT.