UConn coach Calhoun retiring

Published: September 13. 2012 4:00AM PST

Calhoun

NEW YORK — Jim Calhoun has spent more than half his life as a head basketball coach, never venturing far from the New England area where he was born.

Between high schools and colleges in Massachusetts and Connecticut, he racked up 873 wins — most of them coming at his beloved UConn, where he ran the men’s program for 26 years and won three national titles.

Recently, though, the 70-year-old Hall of Famer has struggled with health problems, including a fractured hip last month that put him on crutches. On Thursday, he plans to announce his retirement, a person familiar with the decision told The Associated Press.

The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because Calhoun’s move had not yet been made public. WVIT-TV in Hartford first reported the expected announcement.

Assistant coach Kevin Ollie was expected to replace Calhoun, the person who spoke to the AP said. The school scheduled a 2 p.m. Eastern news conference “to address the future of the men’s basketball program."

Ollie will take over a Huskies team that is ineligible for the 2013 NCAA tournament because of its failure to meet national academic standards, one of several off-court problems that hit UConn late in Calhoun’s tenure.

— The Associated Press

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