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

Seventeen years later, UConn Basketball sits atop the college basketball landscape with a National Championship and a regular spot in the top 25 collegiate polls.

In 2002-03, Coach Calhoun faced the biggest challenge of his life and tackled it with the will and determination that college basketball followers have grown to expect from him and his program. On February 3, 2003, Jim Calhoun announced that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer. He took an immediate leave of absence from the team and underwent surgery on February 6 to have his prostate removed. He was released from the hospital on February 9 and within days was back in the office, involved in the many day-to-day aspects of running the program. On February 22, Jim Calhoun remarkably returned to the sidelines for the team’s match-up with St. John’s at Gampel Pavilion, only 13 days after successful surgery to eliminate his prostate cancer.

The 2002-03 Huskies finished the season with a 23-10 overall record, finishing 10-6 in the BIG EAST. The Huskies captured a share of the BIG EAST East Division title, the program’s eighth BIG EAST Regular Season Championship in the past 14 seasons, and lost in the championship game of the BIG EAST Tournament. UConn spent the first 14 weeks of the season ranked in the National Top 25, reaching as high as the No. 3 spot, and finished the year ranked No. 11 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll and No. 23 in the Associated Press rankings. UConn advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the 11th time under Coach Calhoun, making the program one of only five schools to advance to national postseason play for the last 16 straight seasons and the Huskies were in the NCAA Sweet 16 for the ninth time in 11 trips to the tourney under Coach Calhoun.

In 31 seasons as a head coach on the NCAA Division I collegiate level, Jim Calhoun’s overall collegiate head coaching record is 647-296 (68.6% winning effort). That includes a 248-137 (64.4%) record in 14 seasons as head coach at Northeastern (MA) University and a 399-159 (71.5%) mark in 17 years at Connecticut.

During the 2002-03 season, Jim Calhoun became only the third coach in BIG EAST history to reach the 200 victory plateau and his record in BIG EAST games is 205-119, third only to Jim Boeheim and John Thompson in the league’s history.

During the 2001-02 season, Jim Calhoun became the 26th coach in NCAA Division I history to reach the 600-win plateau and his 647 career wins place him No. 8 among active Division I coaches. He has more wins than any coach in UConn and New England Division I college basketball history.

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 that would annually be called one of the top programs in the nation.

Mission accomplished.

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 took over is nothing short of miraculous".

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.

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.

Following the 2002-03 season, Jim Calhoun received the prestigious Metropolitan Award from the National Basketball Coaches Association (NABC). The award was presented at the NABC Convention at the 2003 NCAA Final Four in New Orleans. The award is given annually by the NABC on behalf of the National Invitation Tournament and the Metropolitan Intercollegiate Basketball Association and is presented for continued outstanding service for the enhancement and betterment of college basketball. Previous winners of the award include Mike Tranghese, John Thompson, Dean Smith, Lou Carneseca, Dave Gavitt, Curt Gowdy, John Wooden, Adolph Rupp, Joe Lapchick and Phog Allen.

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.

In the summer of 2002, Jim Calhoun was selected as a member of the inaugural induction class to the New England Basketball Hall of Fame.

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) District 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).

In addition to the outstanding won-loss record he’s compiled as a collegiate head coach, Jim Calhoun’s postseason national tournament record is truly remarkable. During the past 23 seasons, Jim Calhoun-coached teams have earned national tournament berths 21 times (16 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 16 consecutive postseason national tournaments.

In his 17 years at Connecticut, Jim Calhoun has compiled a stunning 38-13 overall record in national postseason tournament competition (26-9 in NCAA play, 12-4 in NIT play). Coach Calhoun’s winning percentage for national postseason tournament play while at UConn (38-13=74.5%) is better than his overall winning percentage at Connecticut (399-159=71.5%). His 26 NCAA wins at UConn, all achieved in the past 14 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 11 NCAA bids in the past 14 years. Under Coach Calhoun’s direction, UConn has never lost a NCAA First Round game and are 20-2 in the First and Second Rounds. The Huskies have earned nine NCAA Sweet 16 berths in the past 14 years, and Connecticut advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight in 1990, 1995, 1998, 1999 and 2002. The Huskies have also spent 12 weeks as the No. 1 ranked team in the country during Jim Calhoun’s tenure.

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 postseason tournament record is 41-18. His combined total of 29 NCAA wins (26 at UConn, 3 at Northeastern) places Jim Calhoun No. 13 on the all-time collegiate coaching list for career NCAA victories.

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 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 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 NIT title in March of 1988, beating Ohio State 72-67 in the championship game at Madison Square Garden.

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 is the winningest coach in school history (248-137) 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, Coach Calhoun left perhaps the most talented team in the school’s history, along with 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 16 former UConn stars who played for Coach Calhoun have been part of the National Basketball Association (NBA). They include: Clifford Robinson (Golden State Warriors/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 (Chicago Bulls/Utah Jazz/Golden State Warriors), Donny Marshall (New Jersey Nets/Cleveland Cavaliers), Kevin Ollie (Cleveland Cavaliers/Seattle Sonics/Milwaukee Bucks/Indiana Pacers/Chicago Bulls/Philadelphia 76ers/Orlando Magic), Ray Allen (Seattle Sonics/Milwaukee Bucks), Travis Knight (New York Knicks/Boston Celtics/Los Angeles Lakers), Doron Sheffer (Los Angeles Clippers), Richard Hamilton (Detroit Pistons/Washington Wizards), Khalid El-Amin (Chicago Bulls/Dallas Mavericks/Miami Heat), Jake Voskuhl (Phoenix Suns/Chicago Bulls), Kevin Freeman (New Jersey Nets), Ricky Moore (Charlotte Hornets/Detroit Pistons) and Caron Butler (Miami Heat).

A former Little All-American and All-New England player at American International College in Springfield, MA, Jim 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, Jim Calhoun served as the main commencement speaker at AIC’s 115th graduation exercises 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 High School in Westport, MA, Jim Calhoun moved on to become head coach at Dedham High School in Massachusetts. He quickly rebuilt the 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. In the years to follow, the Northeastern Huskies would dominate the ECAC North Atlantic Conference under his guidance. Northeastern won the league’s regular season championship 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.

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

In November of 1998, Jim Calhoun and his wife Pat began a wide- ranging commitment to the cardiology program at the University of Connecticut Health Center, establishing the Calhoun Cardiology Research Fund with a $125,000 gift. In 1999, the Jim Calhoun Celebrity Classic Golf Tournament was launched and during the past five years more than $1.5 million has been raised in support of the Jim and Pat Calhoun Cardiology Research Endowment Fund.

In recognition of the dedication and commitment of Jim Calhoun and his family to cardiology research, the entire cardiology program at the University of Connecticut Health Center has been named the "Pat and Jim Calhoun Cardiology Center". A formal naming ceremony recognizing the on-going work of the Calhoun family will be held in the spring of 2004.

Since 1999, the Jim Calhoun Holiday Food Drive has supported food assistance agencies that serve the State of Connecticut. In excess of $550,000 has been raised to help families in need throughout Connecticut and the food drive culminates each year with Jim Calhoun, his family, and his players personally delivering meals to hundreds of families in the Hartford area.

In October of 2003, Jim Calhoun teamed up with UConn Women’s Basketball Coach Geno Auriemma to serve as celebrity hosts of a Coaches versus Cancer event called "Hoops For Hope". The black-tie gala, staged at the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, MA, attracted a sell-out crowd of more than 600 and raised in excess of $200,000 for the American Cancer Society.

For the past 11 years, Jim Calhoun has served as Honorary Chairman of the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, helping generate in excess of $4.4 million to fund diabetes research.

Jim Calhoun currently serves as chair of a $7 million fund-raising effort to construct a Boys and Girls Club in the Asylum Hills section of Hartford. To date, with Coach Calhoun’s assistance, nearly $5 million has been generated for the project.

Jim and Pat Calhoun have a long-standing involvement with the Franciscan Life Center, a counseling and education center operated in Meriden, CT by the Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist. The Calhouns have been involved annually in fund-raising activities by the Franciscan Sisters. Jim Calhoun has been honored with the "Saint Francis Award" for his dedication to Christian values and outstanding athletic achievements and in 1998 the Franciscan Sisters dedicated an outdoor basketball area, "Calhoun’s Court", in honor of the UConn head coach at the Franciscan Life Center in Meriden.

Coach Calhoun has also served as an Honorary Chairperson/Director for several other charitable programs including the Ronald McDonald House Kids Classic Golf Tournament, the Ray of Hope Foundation Golf Tournament, the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center and Children’s Miracle Network, and the "Character Counts" program in the state of Connecticut.

In the fall of 1999, Jim Calhoun completed work on a book. "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, a former senior writer at Sports Illustrated and a UConn graduate.

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.

Jim Calhoun and his wife Pat have two sons, James and Jeffrey. James and his wife Jennifer reside in London, England with their daughters, Emily (born 3/5/99) and Katie (born 12/29/00) and son Samuel Patrick (born 6/8/03). Jeffrey and his wife Amy reside in Glastonbury, CT with their daughters Avery (born 1/26/02) and Reese (born 4/7/03).

Biography Courtesy of www.uconnhuskies.com. Copyright 2005 CharlieVillanueva.org, Villanueva Bros LLC. All Rights Reserved.