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Calhoun, meanwhile, was named National Coach of the Year. Though the Huskies would lose to Duke in the East Region Final, the victim of a dramatic Christian Laettner buzzer beater, UConn finished the campaign with a remarkable 31-6 tally. The Huskies captured the Big East regular season title as well as the Big East Conference championship en route to a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Huskies notched a 20-14 record and secured an NIT title with a victory over Ohio State.īy 1989, with George entering his senior year and two other future NBA players in Chris Smith and Scott Burrell on the roster, UConn emerged a national power player. Of Calhoun’s first season in Storrs, acclaimed sportswriter William Rhoden wondered how Calhoun had even squeezed three Big East victories “out of a team that was thin to begin with and hurt even more by the loss of two star players to academic ineligibility.”īy year two, things started to turn in a more favorable direction. The roster included a freshman named Tate George, a future NBA pro, and Calhoun showcased his substantial coaching chops. Though Calhoun’s debut season ended with a 9-19 mark, including a 3-13 record in Big East tilts, the outline of a successful program lingered. “Sometimes when you’re having a season like this,” Calhoun told reporters after the game, “you have to achieve small goals.” John’s head coach Lou Carnesecca returned two starters to the floor. John’s “put their starters back in.” After cutting the deficit to 17, St. John’s, Calhoun challenged his team during a second half timeout to make St. With the Huskies trailing by 30 in a February game against St. In January, three players, including starters Cliff Robinson and Phil Gamble, were declared academically ineligible, forcing Calhoun to run through the remaining Big East slate with a roster comprised of only eight scholarship players and walk-ons, including a standout intramural player and – no joke – the starting goalie for UConn’s soccer team. In his first game as UConn’s head man, the Huskies outlasted Massachusetts 58-54 and though the Huskies would win six of their first dozen games, the wheels would fall off. “He favors an aggressive wide-open running game, but the Huskies lack the personnel this season to do it.” Austin head coach Kyle Keller earned in the 2018-2019 campaign), Calhoun replaced Dom Perno, who had struggled to keep the Huskies competitive in a surging Big East.Įxpectations didn’t run high: “Jim Calhoun is known for his ability to get the most out of his players, though this year could be like getting blood from a turnip,” The New York Timeswrote in a Big East season preview. Lured by a base annual salary of $70,000, the equivalent of roughly $163,500 today (or about half of what Stephen F. During his final season with the Huskies, Calhoun’s squad, led by the late Reggie Lewis, won 26 of its 30 games heading into a first-round NCAA Tourney tilt with Oklahoma, an 80-74 loss to the Sooners. Enter a new era for UConn.Ĭalhoun ventured to Storrs from Northeastern, where he had assembled a 248-137 record over 14 seasons, winning both the ECAC regular season crown and post-season tournament in five of his last six campaigns. The Huskies 1985-1986 campaign, which included a 3-13 Big East record, represented a fourth consecutive losing season.Įnter Calhoun. John’s, and Villanova ascended into national prominence. After some middling early success – an 18-16 league record – in its first three years in the Big East, UConn descended into also-ran status as programs like Georgetown, St. After three years as an independent, UConn joined the nascent Big East in 1979, a founding member of the conference that would quickly leave a mighty imprint on college basketball.