Calhoun joins coaching greats

UConn coach Jim Calhoun can be considered one of the top coaches in college basketball after his second national championship

By Ken Davis, The Hartford Courant

HARTFORD, Conn.—Oklahoma State coach Eddie Sutton loves to tell stories about Henry Iba, who was Sutton’s coach and mentor during his playing days at the school. Iba, demanding and tough, was described as basketball’s fundamentalist country preacher. His nickname was the Iron Duke, but those who played for him respectfully call him Mr. Iba.

“ On holidays, we practiced three times,” Sutton said. “We’d go 9 in the morning until noon, 2 to 5, and then come back at night and practice until he got tired. ... I’m not sure Mr. Iba could have coached today because of the 20-hour (NCAA weekly) limit. I think that would have killed him.”

Sound familiar? There’s a coach in Storrs who would spend 24 hours a day in the gym if it were allowed. Jim Calhoun loves being in the gym every day with his team. He’s no prairie preacher, but Calhoun has become New England’s version of Iba, an updated version of the basketball teacher with a Boston accent instead of an Oklahoma drawl.

Now Calhoun has something else in common with Mr. Iba: two national championships. UConn did more than win the national championship last week with an 82-73 victory over Georgia Tech. The Huskies firmly established Calhoun’s place in college basketball history.

Calhoun’s program has truly reached elite status.

By winning the national championship for the second time in six seasons, UConn joins Duke and Kentucky as the only programs with multiple championships since the NCAA Tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985.

The list of coaches with two NCAA championships is short. In addition to Iba and Calhoun, it includes Denny Crum of Louisville, Ed Jucker of Cincinnati, Branch McCracken of Indiana, Dean Smith of North Carolina and Phil Woolpert of San Francisco.

The list of coaches with more than two national trophies is shorter. Bob Knight and Mike Krzyzewski each have three. Kentucky’s Adolph Rupp won four. And UCLA’s John Wooden sits atop the list with his amazing total of 10.

“ You’re known by the company you keep,” Calhoun said. “If I’m keeping the company of Mike Krzyzewski and Bob Knight as a basketball coach, then I’m doing OK.”

Calhoun is in their company because they are the only three on the list who are still active. And Calhoun has further cemented his place in history by beating Krzyzewski twice in Final Four games. Coach K ranks third behind Wooden (12) and Smith (11) in Final Four appearances with 10 and is second in Final Four wins with 10, trailing only Wooden (21).

“ Mike was devastated after the game,” Calhoun said the day after the Huskies beat Duke 79-78 in the semifinals. “Mike Krzyzewski is as hungry now to win another championship as he was when he won his first.”

Calhoun wouldn’t admit it, but that devastation was the result of being out-coached. Say what you will about the officiating—and it was terrible—Calhoun made the proper adjustments and had Emeka Okafor on the floor for the final four minutes when Duke’s big men had fouled out.

Calhoun has been to the Final Four twice and left both times with the championship trophy. Compare that to Knight, who is 3 for 5 and Krzyzewski, who is 3 for 10. Smith was 2 for 11. Even Wooden and Rupp didn’t win titles the first time they reached the Final Four. Calhoun now is a remarkable 4-0 in Final Four games.

Of the coaches who have won multiple championships, only Woolpert, McCracken, Jucker and Iba won their first four Final Four games. Iba won consecutive championships in 1945 and 1946, then never won another. Woolpert had Bill Russell on his side when he won in 1955 and 1956. Jucker didn’t win in 1960 with Oscar Robertson, but he did win consecutive titles in 1961 and 1962.

Krzyzewski led Duke to consecutive titles in 1991 and 1992 and it was a great accomplishment. But in this age of early entry into the NBA, Calhoun’s accomplishment is proof he has built a program that can withstand the element of time. Only McCracken, who won in 1940 and 1953, had a longer span between his two championships.

When the NCAA publishes its 2005 edition of Final Four records, Calhoun will join McCracken as the only Final Four coaches with a 1.000 winning percentage in a minimum of three games. Wooden (21-3) is next at .875.

“ The great thing for me at age 61 is to continue to learn from my kids, and that’s a great lesson,” Calhoun said. “This team proved to me that they can stand up to the scrutiny and to the disappointments. Do you realize that in February we were voted the No. 1 disappointing team in America? We were 21-3. The No. 1 disappointing team in America. I have a very good memory, by the way. Guess what? I would like to tell that person I hope they’re not disappointed in the fact that we won a national championship.”

That is vintage Calhoun, a man clearly content with what he has accomplished but never satisfied. It was his hunger for the Big East tournament championship (an accomplishment other coaches may consider trivial) that turned the Huskies into a dominant, unstoppable force in March and April. It was one of the most dominant performances of the past 20 NCAA Tournaments.

The only disappointment in San Antonio was the news that Calhoun had not gotten enough votes to enter the Basketball Hall of Fame. This was Calhoun’s first time as a finalist and enshrinement simply isn’t that easy, but it would have been a wonderful accomplishment to combine with his second trip to the championship podium.

Of the 10 other men with multiple NCAA championships, only Jucker has not been elected to the Hall of Fame. Calhoun has provided us with the greatest story in New England college basketball history. There has to be a spot for him in the Honors Ring.

UConn guard Ben Gordon said it best, shortly after Monday’s game ended.

“ They’re going to be smart enough to eventually induct Coach Calhoun,” he said.

“ That’s a no-brainer.”