Jim Calhoun is widely regarded as one of the finest basketball coaches of all time, and he has given himself a wide berth from basketball after retiring from UCONN. His team went on to win a national title with former player Kevin Ollie, and Calhoun has stayed out of the limelight. It appears that he wants to come back to coaching, and that could be a windfall for the team that picks him up.
He was successful
Calhoun only coached at Northeastern and UCONN, and he was so successful that he is one of few coaches who won three or more titles. His teams were shocking when they won their first national title, and it was not surprising at all when Emeka Okafor and his club beat Georgia Tech in the title game many years later.
Calhoun created a strong program to parallel the amazing women's basketball program, and he grew along with Geno Auriemma at UCONN. These two men created a basketball tradition at the school, and Calhoun was willing to give credit where it was due to his women's coaching counterpart. His support at Geno in the early years of the women's program is part of what Geno credits for his success.
It was time to move on
Calhoun had been sick prior to his retirement, and he shocked the college basketball world by walking away so that Kevin Ollie could take over. Everyone who watched college basketball wondered if UCONN would ever return to prominence, and they turned around to win yet another national title from an unlikely low seed in the tournament.
No one could say if this put a fire in Calhoun to coach again, but now says that he wants to see the players on the floor every day.
Perhaps St. Joseph's
The Division III St. Joseph's has been reported by multiple sources as the landing spot for Calhoun, and it is important for us all to realize that he is taking this job to get back on the floor.
He is quite an old man, and he is not using these jobs to skip back to the Division I ranks. He loves basketball, and he wants to be around kids who love basketball as much as he does. Someone who wants to play for Calhoun may go to St. Joseph's, or they can watch him practice only to see how Calhoun runs a team. It is fun to think of the coaching greats coming back to help small schools get better, and this writer enjoys the feeling of having successful coaches come back to the game they love. Jim Calhoun may make a difference if he takes another coaching job, but that is not as important as his love for the game. What made UCONN great will walk the hardwood once again.
