Texas Longhorns


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Jim Calhoun will begin his 24th year as the Head Coach of the University of Connecticut Huskies Men’s Basketball Team after leading last year’s team to a # 5 Ranking in the AP and a slot in the NCAA Tournament as the #1 West Region Seed advancing to thier4 3rd Final Four. In the Final Four, the Huskies would meet up with Michigan State, losing to #2 Seed Michigan State.

This season, with a strong recruiting class behind them, Coach Calhoun said he’s excited about his young team. After losing three starters, including 7-2 Center Hasheem Thabeet, there are a few questions remaining for Coach Calhoun, most revolving around how to replace Thabeet’s production on a daily basis. He has hope with highly regarded newcomers 6-9 freshman Center Zlex Oriakhi and freshman guard Darius Smith. Look for Coach Calhoun to get the most out of his players and again challenge his conference for a spot in the NCAA Tournament.

A SHORT HISTORY

In January of 1901, Connecticut Agricultural College played a basketball game against Windham High School. Connecticut won that game and by 1903, Men’s Basketball became a varsity sport.

In 1926, with the help of Hugh Greer, the Connecticut Agricultural College Aggies won the 1926 New England Conference Championships. Greer would return to the now University of Connecticut in 1946 and would coach the Men’s basketball program for 17 seasons, leading them to seven NCAA Tournaments and 1 NIT berth. In 1979, the school was one of the seven founding schools of the Big East Conference.

After struggling in the 70’s and finding them consistently behind perennial powerhouses Syracuse and Georgetown, the school went out and hired Jim Calhoun as its new head coach. Coach Calhoun would lead the Huskies to two NCAA Division I Tournament Championships, three Final Four Regional Championships, six Big East Tournament Championships, six Big East Regular Season Championships and four American East Tournament Championships. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2005.

The Huskies have won the NCAA Tournament three times (1999, 2004 & 2009) made it into the Elite Eight nine times, the Sweet Sixteen Tournament fifteen times, the NCAA Tournament second round twenty-seven times and have appeared in the NCAA Tournament twenty-nine times. They have won the Conference Tournament Championships six times and have been Regular Season Conference Champions twenty-eight times.