Jim Calhoun’s life revolves around the Northeast.
A true New Englander with roots in Braintree, Calhoun’s initial foray into the world of basketball coaching began in the suburban city of Dedham as head coach of the high school. From there, Calhoun found his place in Boston. To this day, he continues to disprove the notion that Storrs is an anonymous town in the middle of Connecticut with its now world famous basketball program.
Friday, an event occurred that has happened to few natives of the Northeast, or to those affiliated with Northeastern University, for that matter. Calhoun, the winningest coach in NU men’s basketball history and the current coach of the two-time national championship winning Connecticut Huskies, was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield.
“He was a wonderful, happy, brash Irishman who believed in family,” recounted longtime Northeastern Director of Sports Information Jack Grinold of Calhoun’s time at NU. “And if you were part of his family, it was the strongest family you could ever be a part of.”
Calhoun, taking his place alongside the legends of basketball history, had his shining moment after a season in which he added 23 wins to his career tally of 703.
The long, storied career of Calhoun in the college ranks began on Huntington Avenue in 1972. He used a tough style to discipline his players and needed little time to turn the Huskies into a formidable force.
“He took a Division 2 program and dragged it, kicking and screaming, into Division 1,” Grinold said.
Calhoun, who coached such notable athletes as Dave Caligaris and the late Celtics star Reggie Lewis, compiled a 250-137 record in his stay in Boston.
Most impressively, Calhoun worked a magic as coach to win six conference titles and lead NU to six appearances in the NCAA tournament. Calhoun coached the Huskies to their only three NCAA tournament wins.
Connecticut basketball needed a boost in 1986, and it found it in Calhoun. In an even more competitive field, Calhoun created the national powerhouse now known each year to weary opponents as “UConn.” The Connecticut Huskies have won nine Big East Conference championships, six conference tournament championships and two national titles with Calhoun at the helm.
“No one believed at Northeastern that we would become of national prominence,” Grinold said. “And I don’t think that anyone in the state of Connecticut thought they would have two national championships.”
With those 703 wins between the two schools, Calhoun is the most successful coach in the history of New England basketball, which is fitting for a man who it seems will never need to leave this corner of the country.
