Delshawn Jackson has put up games of 29 (twice), 31, 34, 36 and 46 points for Jim Calhoun and St. Joseph this season. St. Joseph (Conn.) photo by Steve McLaughlin

By Joe Sager
D3sports.com

Preparing a team for the NCAA Tournament is nothing new for Jim Calhoun.

The Hall of Fame coach did it regularly for most of his 14 seasons at Northeastern and 26 campaigns at Connecticut.

Now in his second season leading St. Joseph, Calhoun faces a different challenge at the NCAA Division III level – tournament games on consecutive days, should his team advance.

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“It’s a great experience for me, personally. I love coaching here. I love the whole activity,” he said. “Why teams have to play Friday and Saturday and not Friday for the first game and Sunday for the second game is beyond me. Having games Friday and Saturday, I think it takes a little away from the experience. It feeds more into the more experienced and talented teams because preparation is not as critical on an individual basis. We have to look at three teams over the next three days.

“But, I’ve always said just to roll out the basketballs and we’ll play whoever we play. Hobart has one of the best defenses in the country. We’ll prepare for what we have. The most important thing is Friday at 5 p.m. against Hobart.”

History suggests the compacted schedule is just a minor obstacle for Calhoun, who guided UConn to the D-I NCAA Tournament 18 times. His Huskies won three national championships – the last coming in 2011.

Calhoun stepped down in 2012 due to health reasons, but when St. Joe’s wanted to start its men’s basketball program after the university opened its doors to male students in 2018, Calhoun was chosen to lead the way.

Like he did at Northeastern and UConn, Calhoun went to work building a program. After a 16-12 campaign last year, the Blue Jays shook off a 1-2 start and won their next 25 in a row, including a Great Northeast Athletic Conference crown.

“It’s special, but I also think we have good players. Everyone asks me how do I win and I tell them you win with good players,” Calhoun said. “Nobody’s winning with bad players.”

St. Joe’s roster is made up of nearly all sophomores and freshmen. Delshawn Jackson leads the way at 22.0 points per game. He went off for 46 points against Albertus Magnus in the 88-84 win in the GNAC tournament title game last Friday.

“We’ve played a pretty good schedule and just got better and better and believed in what we’re doing,” Calhoun said. “Selection Monday was a new experience. It was really good. These kids really believed in us and came here. They came here and see what Glen and I have done. They believed we could make something out of it.”

Associate head coach Glen Miller played for Calhoun at Northeastern and was part of Calhoun’s first coaching staff at UConn in 1986. He spent 14 seasons with the Huskies. He was a head coach at Brown and Penn as well. Before that, he enjoyed seven successful seasons as head coach at D-III Connecticut College, including taking a team to the Division III Final Four. Calhoun hired Miller to help build the program at St. Joe’s.

“I am very fortunate to have gone to some places where we’ve been able to turn some things around,” Calhoun said. “There is something very challenging going to a place like that, but, at St. Joe’s, we are making difference, not just in basketball. We’re building a new gym and there’s a $6-7 million addition going into the cafeteria. Enrollment is up. That’s very, very satisfying.”

The players are sponges when Calhoun speaks. After all, he had three national championships and helped send 28 former UConn players to the NBA.

“The best experience is to win. It restores your faith. It’s a different society now with social media and things, but these are still kids and kids who want to do well. I always tell them that, if they’re going to do something for 10 hours a week, they should try to be good at it,” he said. “I am learning from them and they are learning from me. I don’t use (past experiences) often, but sometimes, I might tell a player, ‘You think Ray Allen might have listened to me?’ ”

Despite continued health issues – Calhoun generally spends the second half recuperating in the locker room, leaving Miller in charge – Calhoun enjoys doing what he’s doing.

“In many ways, this experience reenergizes you. One of my last teams at UConn in 2011, Kemba Walker led that team. It was refreshing to see those kids buy in,” he said. “In less than two years, we’ve had kids buy into what we’re trying to do. On ESPN the other day, I heard Rece Davis say this about us, ‘They only started buying men’s basketballs 16 months ago.’ I thought that was a great line.”

Stefan Thompson played in the NCAA Tournament for Hobart not that long ago. Hobart athletics photo

In a nod to Big East tournaments of old, it’ll be Calhoun vs. Thompson on Friday. Hobart’s Stefan Thompson – no relation to former Georgetown coaching icon John Thompson – is in his first year leading the Statesmen (21-5).

“I am looking forward the matchup. Coach Calhoun is a great coach, a Hall of Famer. I grew up in Syracuse, so I got to see that (UConn-Syracuse) rivalry. His teams were always scrappy, hard to defend and could rebound,” Thompson said. “As a coach, I am looking forward to it. I know he is a competitor and that’s why he’s still in the industry and able to sustain such a great career. I just look at it that, when the ball goes in the air, let’s see what we have to do to win. I have a tremendous amount of respect for him and all his accomplishments and how he continues to push the game forward for coaches.”

Thompson, who was the 2010 D3hoops.com East Region Rookie of the Year, played in the D-III tourney his junior and senior years at Hobart and was a D3hoops.com All-America pick as a senior. He was thrilled to get back to it in his first year on the bench with the program, after the Statesmen fell to Ithaca, 80-72, in the Liberty League semifinals.

“It’s a lot of fun. Not many teams are able to continue playing after the conference tournament is done,” he said. “With us being on the bubble, to be able to have our name called – you have to appreciate these moments and try to make them as fun as possible. In the same breath, you want to be competitive and locked in. We want to make sure we lock in on the things that got us here. We’re not happy with just dancing; we want to keep dancing and advancing.”