What makes a legend? Is it winning the big game? Scoring the
most points on your team? Getting the big hit? What defines who becomes
legendary? What if the legend is someone who didn’t hit the big shot-but was
the reason that big shot took place. In my mind, there is no definition of a
legend- but the closest thing to it, is the now retired UConn Huskies men’s
basketball coach Jim Calhoun.
Now I have to say it, this one is close to my heart. I was
born into a UConn family. My parents graduated from there and since then, my
father especially, grew extremely strong (obsessed) feelings for the UConn
Huskies men’s basketball program. I have had the privilege of having season
tickets to UConn games since I was literally old enough to start going to
games. I’ve been to countless Big East title games, Final Fours and have
experienced the most euphoric moments in my lifetime with UConn basketball. To
me, my family and all the other Husky Nation fanatics, UConn basketball isn’t
just a sport. It’s a way of life. Jim Calhoun was the foundation that started
the madness of my 21 years of being a husky fan.
I’m not going to give you the play by play of his career. There’s
no need to. He started in 1986 with UConn when UConn was literally in the
cellar of the Big East conference. The bluebloods of college basketball in
North Carolina, Duke, Kansas, Kentucky etc. were all off winning their titles.
Who was UConn at the time? Nobodies.
Now we look back- 26 years later. Where is UConn today?
Three national championships, seven Big East championships, 27 NBA draftees.
The list can go on. Calhoun built an institute of greatness. He built a fan
base that rival the likes of Duke and North Carolina. He most recently built a
brand new state of the art basketball facility for practice that should be open
on campus soon. In 2005 he was inducted into the National Basketball Hall of
Fame. He has won 873 games in his career, which puts him at 6th all
time in most wins by a Division 1 college basketball coach. You see- UConn
didn’t do any of this- Jimmy did. Without Calhoun there would be none of this.
Sure he also built all the endorsements throughout the years
as well. UConn has become a Nike favorite on apparel and new jerseys. But these
are minor things compared to the growth that the basketball team has witnessed
since Coach Calhoun came on board.
It can be argued that UConn is the best college basketball
team in the past 12 years of the sport. They have titles in 1999, 2004 and
2011, with another Final Four appearance as well in 2009. They also have four
Big East titles in that time span as well. From the likes of Ray Allen to
Richard Hamilton, Emeka Okafor to Ben Gordon, Caron Butler to the newest elite
member Kemba Walker, Calhoun was the builder and developed all of those men into
the players they are today.
He was known for his fiery attitude, whether that was on the
court or in the press conference after. He was never afraid to go toe to toe
with someone and he would sure as hell let you know that. He was the most
intense person on the court at all times-including the players. He was quick to
get into a players face and even quicker to bench them after a mistake on the
court. He would jabber at reporters and more then once fire back and argue with
them on numerous topics. “NOT A DIME BACK” Calhoun once shouted at a reporter
for asking him if he would be giving any of his 1.6 million dollar paycheck
back to the state. Not a dime back. And that was the truth. Calhoun didn’t give
a dime back- he left all of the dimes that he had with him on the court. There
was absolutely nothing to give back. He left it all on the court every single
time. If UConn ever lost, there was no question that Calhoun still did
everything he could, and left everything he had on that court.
But Calhoun was so much more then that. He was a three-time
cancer survivor. He broke five ribs
after a bike accident in 2009. He had spinal surgery and had to take a leave of
absence. Most recently he fractured his hip after another bike accident. His
health never shied him away from coaching the game, ever.
He’s also known
for his philanthropy, including the Pat and Jim Calhoun Cardiology Center
at UConn and the annual Jim Calhoun Holiday Food Drive, which has raised
nearly $1 million supporting food assistance agencies that serve to help
families in need throughout the State of Connecticut. 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. The Jim Calhoun
Celebrity Classic Golf Tournament was launched in 1999 and has since raised
millions in support of the endowment fund. In 2003 & 2004, Coach Calhoun
served as celebrity host of the black tie gala "Hoops For Hope",
by Coaches vs. Cancer, a program established in 1993 by the American Cancer
Society; the events raised over $400,000 for the ACS. 2007 is the
first year of The Big Y Jim Calhoun Cancer Challenge Ride statewide
event to benefit The Carole and Ray Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center at
the University of Connecticut Health Center; the ride raised over $225,000.
I’m going to
remember all of those times I spent with at UConn games watching Calhoun. The
celebrating before and after every big game in the crowd, the yelling, the
cheering, the laughing but most of all, always having one eye open watching
Calhoun coach. It was something I never missed. I reacted the way he reacted.
And it seemed that everyone else did as well. He was the ringleader, the drum
major, beating his drum as his players and the crowd responded. The captain of
our ship. The man we prayed to before going to bed every night.
The one example
that I can use as a showing of the respect that Calhoun had from the fans was
an act that I noticed my father did at every basketball game that I had watched
and noticed as he did this. At the beginning of every game the pump up song
“Lets Get Ready To Rumble” would play as the starting line-up was announced.
The crowd would all be standing up, clapping their hands to the beat and going
wild for every name announced since…well..that’s what you’re supposed to do at
a game, cheer for the players. My brother and I would be going nuts, “C’mon Kemba!”
or “Let’s go Charrrrrlieee” (for
example) for years after the players name would be announced. But not my
father. He would be standing up, arms folded, staring intently at the court,
watching the players run off the bench on the court as their name was
announced. Maybe a nod or two from him after a players name was announced who
had been playing well of late, but that was it. After the starting line up was
called, the announcer would then say lastly “And the head coach of the Huskies
in his (insert number of year he was there) season, Hall of Famer Jim
Calhoun!!!!!” A roar would go off from the crowd and every time…every single
time, my dad would finally clap his hands together and yell out a big “YEAH!”
One night I think I remember myself asking him, why he only cheered for
Calhoun. “Respect,” he said. “That man deserves all the respect in the world.”
From then on in, I found myself doing the exact same thing. Every game. Calhoun
deserved ALL of the clapping.
I think the
fondest memory I have (maybe because it’s the most recent) other than that
first title in 1999, is the job Calhoun did in 2011 with the 9 freshman and sophomores
and star in Kemba Walker. He brought them from an unranked team, to that miracle
March with five wins in five days, and then six wins after that to a National
Championship. It was something college basketball had never seen before, and it
only cemented Calhoun even more into basketball Heaven.
He built a
program from the ground up. No help from former coaches or former teams before
him. UConn was a project at first, a “let’s see what I can do here” type of
thing. But Calhoun never looked back. He took that program and built it into a
national powerhouse, a team that is always feared in March and a team that will
always be remembered for their now blue blood legacy.
As for what’s
next with UConn, I have a sneaking suspicion that Calhoun will always have
something to do with UConn- whether that be in the front office or just a
helpful voice from above in situations- I do not think he will completely leave
the University behind. How could he anyways? He was the creator. His successor,
Kevin Ollie for now, will have big shoes to fill, but if Calhoun believes in
him, I think it’s safe to say that we can believe in him as well.
Calhoun’s
legacy is something that will never be touched at UConn. He was the creator,
the controller, the mastermind and the champion that has built the program into
what it is today. I am going to miss that man more then anything I’ve most
likely ever missed in my life. But I am so glad I was along for the ride.
Thanks Jim. You truly never did give a dime back. It was ALWAYS left on the
court.
