|
| Jim Calhoun coached UConn until 2012. After serving as a consultant to new men's basketball program St. Joseph (Conn.), the 76-year-old will be its first head coach as well. 2014 USA TODAY Sports Images photo by David Butler II |
Three-time NCAA Division I national champion and Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Coach, Jim Calhoun, has officially joined the St. Joseph (Conn.) staff full-time and has been named the first-ever head coach of the men's basketball program.
The announcement and signing of his full-time contract took place on Sept. 18 in the O'Connell Center lobby on the USJ campus in West Hartford, Connecticut, alongside university president Rhona Free and athletic director Bill Cardarelli.
He returns to the sideline with 873 career victories, including 625 while most recently at UConn for 26 seasons (1987-2012). "Whether it's Division I or Division III, the kids are the kids and the game is the game," Calhoun said, "and I'm looking forward to getting back out on the court and teaching these young men each and every day. I really missed being a part of a team, and we're preparing for a great first season at USJ."
Glen Miller, a former Division I head coach at Penn and Brown, and a former D-III head coach who led Connecticut College to the 1998 Final Four, has been on staff and will serve as an assistant coach.
Free remarked, "From the first day we started working with coach (Calhoun), it's been momentous for all of us – especially our current student-athletes. In terms of recruiting all students, not just student-athletes, he has had what we call the "Calhoun Effect," and we all enjoyed his talk where he emphasized that for all students, academics are the top priority."
Miller will be working alongside Calhoun to get the inaugural men's basketball team ready for their first season, including the opening game against William Paterson. That game will take place at Trinity College, in Hartford.