Jim Calhoun is coming back to UConn.
No shock there.
He successfully outlasted former athletic director Jeff Hathaway and landed future NBA lottery pick Andre Drummond.
So of course he’s coming back.
“In a conversation this morning with UConn President Susan Herbst, the topic of conversation turned to Coach Calhoun’s return for the coming season,” read a statement from UConn on Wednesday. “At that time, Coach informed the President that it was his intention to coach this coming season, as he is under contract to do. He told President Herbst that he wanted her to be the first to know, beyond his family, and that she was free to share the information with others.”
Calhoun’s contract runs through June 2014, and he will reportedly make $3 million next season.
Because of recruiting violations surrounding the Nate Miles case, the NCAA took away one of UConn’s scholarships and suspended Calhoun for the first three Big East games next season, against South Florida, St. John’s, Seton Hall.
Calhoun, 69, had left open the possibility that he might retire, but incoming freshman DeAndre Daniels told SNY.tv in June that Calhoun told him he would coach this season.
Omar Calhoun, a 2012 UConn commit from New York, echoed those sentiments to SNY.tv last month.
With the additions of Drummond, Daniels and guard Ryan Boatright, UConn now has what must be considered a top 3 or 4 national recruiting class and should challenge for another deep postseason run.
According to the Hartford Courant, UConn’s Academic Progress Report score was a subpar 893, which by the terms of his contract cost Calhoun $187,000 and the program two additional scholarships.
They now have 10 instead of the usual 13, but must find room for Drummond by potentially asking another player, perhaps redshirt big man Michael Bradley, to accept a financial aid package.
