UConn coach Jim Calhoun to retire; Kevin Ollie to take over
 |
| Calhoun has coached at UConn for 26 years and won three national titles, the first in 1999. (Getty Images) |
One of the most legendary coaching careers in college sports is coming to an end. Jeff Goodman has confirmed longtime UConn basketball coach Jim Calhoun will retire.
Connecticut's NBC 30 first broke the news Wednesday night that the 70-year-old Calhoun is leaving his post with the Huskies after 26 years with the school and 40 years coaching overall. It's an oddly timed ending for the proud and controversial Calhoun, who injured his hip while riding a bike in early August and had recently put his commitment to continue coaching into question.
| More on Jim Calhoun |
| Analysis |
 Jeff Goodman The ideal time would have been while celebrating on the podium following his third national title in 2011. Read More >>  Gary Parrish Jim Calhoun is hardly walking away gracefully. And I don't mean that literally. That's not a joke about his hip. Read More >> |
| Related content |
The school has scheduled a 2 p.m. press conference for Thursday for the formal announcement.
CBSSports.com has also learned UConn assistant coach Kevin Ollie met with school administrators Wednesday night and the parties agreed to a one-year deal that includes an evaluation of his work at the end of next season.
Calhoun has long been an advocate for Ollie, a former UConn player, to succeed him as coach. A retirement decision by Calhoun this close to the start of the season -- the start of practices is one month away -- meant UConn had little choice but to go with Ollie for now.
Beyond the unusual timing of the retirement, Calhoun also steps away on the brink of his team being ineligible for the 2013 postseason because of low APR scores. It cannot play in the Big East or any other postseason tournament at the end of the upcoming season.
Calhoun leaves the game with an 873 wins and national championships in 1999, 2004 and 2011. Those are the only three titles in UConn men's hoops history. He was voted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2005 and saw 22 of his UConn players leave school to be drafted into the NBA.
Outside of hoops, Calhoun is also known for victories over for his health problems. He has defeated cancer three times and recently suffered a spinal condition in 2011-12 that caused him to miss eight games. He came back from that to coach out the end of last season. Calhoun's career ends with a 77-64 loss to Iowa State in the Round of 64 during last season's NCAA tournament.
In the winter of his career Calhoun had run-ins with the NCAA, such as the three-game Big East suspension he served after the NCAA ruled he failed to "maintain an atmosphere of compliance" at UConn. The background on that punishment and the violations tied to it can be found here.
Calhoun started his college coaching career at Northeastern, where he spent 14 years and finished with a 245-138 mark. He turned the program from D-II to D-I as well. When he got to Connecticut, in addition to the national titles, the Huskies took home 10 Big East regular-season titles and seven league tourney championships under Calhoun.
