By: Mike Hacku

Jim Calhoun is a legendary college basketball coach. He is a Hall-of-Famer.  He is an individual who has literally transformed The University of Connecticut basketball program from nothing to a perennial power house.   Calhoun loves coaching, and I truly admire that.  What he’s given to the state of Connecticut cannot be matched; UCONN men’s basketball is by far the greatest show in town. With that said however, I truly believe it would be in Calhoun’s best interest to step down after the 2010 season. At age 67 and with a plethora of health problems both past and present, it’s time for Calhoun to pass the torch.  And who better to pass it to than another UCONN coaching legend, Geno Auriemma.

Now would Jim Calhoun be as ticked off as a Stanley Robinson turnover if he read what I just wrote? He’d probably be even angrier. It’s not like he’s Joe Paterno out there. The man loves coaching and probably has no interest in retiring for the foreseeable future.  He’s given me memories that will stick with me forever: Ray Allen’s game winning floater to beat Allen Iverson’s Georgetown Hoyas in the 1996 Big East Championship Game.  Khalid El-Amin yelling “WE SHOCKED THE WORLD” after the Huskies won their first NCAA Championship over Duke in 1999.  In the end, Calhoun has every right to stay as long as he wants. Heck, I want him to give me even more memories.  But would it be in his best interest to stop coaching based on his health problems?  Probably.

Calhoun has never been one to let his health problems get in the way of his passion of coaching. The problems began seven years ago when he announced that he was fighting a battle with prostate cancer. Only 16 days after the surgery, he was back on the court leading his team. Then in 2008, Calhoun announced he was undergoing treatment for a cancerous malignant tumor. Still, he continued with his coaching. In 2009, Calhoun flew over his bike after hitting a pot hole during a charity bike event and broke five of his ribs. He finished the final sixteen miles of the race before collapsing and going to the hospital (3). As I stated earlier, the man is a legend.

But now, in 2010, Calhoun has been forced to take another leave of absence from the UCONN men’s basketball team. We still don’t know for sure what the absence was for, although it was confirmed to be health related. Thankfully, it was not related to his previous bouts with cancer, and he returned earlier this month to coach the team once again. We’re still left with questions though. This past December, Calhoun signed a brand new five-year deal that would keep him on the sidelines until 2015 and well into his seventies. He also received a nice raise from his previous $1.6 million dollar contract. But with all of these health problems continuing to surface, it’s time for Calhoun to head to South Beach and put his feet up. For incoming recruits, his health issues can only cause concern and uncertainty in the program. They will be unable to predict how long Calhoun will be able to stick with coaching.

If Calhoun really did step down early, I think Geno Auriemma would be the perfect fit to be the next coach for the men’s program. Auriemma, who’s been the UCONN women’s basketball coach since 1985, is only 55 years old and has a lot of great coaching left in him. After winning six NCAA Championships and nearing the brink of his seventh, the Hall-of-Famer doesn’t have much left to prove at the women’s level. There were rumors that he was interested in coaching an NBA team in the past, but he has stuck with the University of Connecticut and developed some of the best talent the women’s game has ever seen; from stars like Rebecca Lobo to current prodigy Maya Moore. Some would question if the transition would be too difficult, but a Hall-of-Famer is a Hall-of-Famer. The man can recruit, and he’s got that swagger and charm about him what would be appealing to 18-year-old recruits looking for that general to get them to the next level. If Geno wanted to take on a new obstacle, he would fit in well as successor to Jim Calhoun.

Now I’m not saying that a transition to the men’s game would be a promotion for Auriemma in any way, but it would certainly give him new challenges. I know I get tired of doing the same job year after year, and sometimes change is good. Does Geno ever get bored having perfect seasons at UCONN? Maybe not, but he has done such a wonderful job for the UCONN women that at times it almost seems like he owes himself that change to see what happens. Each time I turn on a UCONN women’s basketball game, the score is along the lines of a 95-27 blowout. Some people call Geno Auriemma the John Wooden of the women’s game (1), as he is the architect of arguably the most dominant program in sports history. Not just women’s sports, but all of it. But is the women’s game really that much different? You still have to recruit the most talented players that fit your coaching scheme and push them to be better both on the court and in life. This season, the team passed their own NCAA record of 70 straight wins. It’s amazing to me how Geno continues to push his players to make them better and continually keep them focused, especially when they never experience failure. This is a skill that you can’t teach. I don’t think they will ever lose again as long as Geno is their coach, and I don’t think it’s that far of a stretch. He’s that good at what he does.

Could it be the competitiveness of Geno that pushes him to consider coaching the men’s game? One of the major differences between the women’s game and the men’s game is that in the men’s game, your best players often leave early to play professionally. This affects the way you recruit, because Geno most certainly would not have a player like Tina Charles staying at UCONN for four years if the WNBA was able to throw millions of dollars at her like the NBA teams do on the men’s side. No one is denying his brilliance as a coach, but we all would be extremely interested to see if he would be as successful with such a transition, and there is little doubt that it has never entered his own mind. If you’re looking to hire from within after Calhoun retires, there is no better option than Auriemma. If you’re looking to make a splash and hire the next big thing, there’s still no better option than Auriemma. UCONN will see this too, and you can almost put money down that Geno will be offered the job. Considering the dominance he has shown coaching the women’s team for the past 25 years, I think all of Connecticut would be happy with that decision.

You can even make the argument that Auriemma is the better coach, but according to a helium.com article, that’s like comparing lobster to filet mignon (2). But let’s take a shot at it. If it’s true that the men’s basketball program gets more money and sponsorship from the university, then Auriemma job as been even harder in creating the monster that is UCONN women’s basketball. The helium.com article continues to say, “Being a men’s basketball coach draws more crowd, therefore more money, and the university pours more money into the men’s basketball program; its facilities, recruiting budgets, scholarship budgets, etc. compared to that of the girls program.” Auriemma has also been more consistent in landing top recruits. Calhoun is only able to get a few players out of the annual Top-100 high school recruits, and he’s done this on a far less consistent basis than Auriemma.

So if Calhoun decides to step down in the near future due to health concerns, I think it’s clear that the University will have to look no further than their own campus to find his successor. Calhoun has done everything and more for this program, but he should start thinking about his health and his family at this point in his life, and not about recruiting another Marcus Williams to get his blood pressure boiling. Geno Auriemma is ready for his next chapter in coaching. Another NCAA Championship this season is looking more and more likely with each 30-point blowout, so why not begin a new chapter? If Calhoun ends up sticking around for the next 5 years and potentially beyond, we may always be left to wonder “what if?”
References:
(1) McGowan, Dan. “If Calhoun retires, Geno should step in” http://www.danstake.com/2010/02/if-calhoun-retires-geno-should-step-in.html
(2) Freeman, Robert “Auriemma” http://www.helium.com/debates/229608-who-is-the-better-uconn-basketball-coach-jim-calhoun-or-geno-auriemma/side_by_side
“Jim Calhoun” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Calhoun
(3) Anthony, Mike “Calhoun Collapses” 2009. Hartford Courant.
Anthony, Mike “Calhoun Contract Extension Nearly Done” 2009. Hartford Courant
Various Editors. ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men’s Game. Ballantine Books. 2009. New York.