Jim Calhoun

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Jim Calhoun's Bio: A self-described Irish Catholic, Calhoun was born and raised in Braintree, Massachusetts, where he was a standout on the basketball, football, and baseball teams at Braintree High School. After his father died of a heart attack when Calhoun was 15, he was left to watch over his large family that included five siblings.

Although he received a basketball scholarship to Lowell State, he only attended the school for three months after which he returned home to help support his mother and siblings.

After a 20-month leave from higher education, Calhoun returned to college, this time at American International College in Springfield, Massachusetts, where he was given another basketball scholarship. He was the leading scorer on the team his junior and senior seasons. Calhoun graduated in 1968 with a bachelor's degree in sociology.

Calhoun and his wife, Pat, live in Pomfret, Connecticut, have been married since 1967, and have two sons and six grandchildren.

The couple, both of whom lost parents to heart disease, are known for their philanthropy, including the Pat and Jim Calhoun Cardiology Center at UConn and the annual Jim Calhoun Holiday Food Drive. In 1998, a $125,000 gift from Jim Calhoun and his wife Pat established the Jim and Pat Calhoun Cardiology Research Fund at UConn Health Center.

Jim Calhoun began his coaching career at Lyme-Old Lyme High School in Old Lyme, Connecticut in 1965 after accepting a sixth grade teaching position.

Calhoun was recruited by Northeastern University in Boston to serve as their new head coach. He took the position in October 1971, and quickly built Northeastern into the dominant power in the ECAC North Atlantic Conference. He also transitioned the team from Division II to Division I.

On May 14, 1986, Calhoun was named the head coach at the University of Connecticut. After completing his first season just 9–19, Calhoun led the Huskies to a 18–14 record in 1988 and a bid to National Invitation Tournament, where they won the NIT championship. In 1990, Calhoun was named the consensus National Coach of the Year after leading the Huskies to their first Big East 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-ever Final Four and national championship over favored Duke in St. Petersburg, Florida. Future NBA standout Richard "Rip" Hamilton led the team to a 77–74 victory.

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.

During the Jim Calhoun era, the UConn Huskies have done well in the Big East Conference with an impressive 220–112 record (.665 winning percentage). The Huskies have won or shared conference titles in 1990, 1994–1996, 1998–1999, 2002, and 2005–2006. UConn has 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 Georgetown. Later in 2005, Coach Calhoun was honored by induction into the Dr. James Naismith National Basketball Hall of Fame. On February 25, 2009, he achieved his 800th win at the Bradley Center over Marquette.

On April 4, 2011, Calhoun won his 3rd NCAA Men's Championship as the Connecticut Huskies defeated the Butler Bulldogs 53–41. The victory over Butler made Calhoun, at 68, the oldest coach to win an NCAA Division I men's basketball title. … Read more