“Hilton, get that mother***ker!”
“Which mother***ker, coach?”
Ed Daigneault of the Republican-American shared that Jim Calhoun memory last night. An exchange between the Hall of Fame coach and center Hilton Armstrong during some game long-lost in the ether of UConn basketball. One game of the hundreds that Jim Calhoun oversaw at UConn, and one game he wanted to win just as bad as the others.
Calhoun officially retired Thursday afternoon, ending a brilliant career that wrought three national championships, four Final Four appearances, seven Big East tournament titles and a Hall of Fame induction. Calhoun won victories over 873 opponents, cancerous tumors and a state ready for heroes.
Statistics help define Calhoun’s career but not the man himself. In the wake of his retirement, several national writers have seized the opportunity to call Calhoun a cantankerous ogre. A tyrant who didn’t respect a recorder with a major media corporation’s name on it. Some have called him a cheater – a claim that exceeds ignorance and sways into stupidity. Yet simultaneously the people who knew him best – his players, the Connecticut media horde, his rivals – have spoken of his need for victory, his undying support for his players, his charitable deeds and his love for his family. The true Calhoun is surely somewhere in the middle. Short-tempered but forgiving. Humble yet protective. Surly but generous. Through it all however, no one dares question his work ethic.
When the dust settles, that will be the Jim Calhoun trait that carries through generations. Players like Hilton Armstrong will tell their children and grandchildren how playing for Calhoun helped them understand the importance of effort and determination. UConn fans will tell their children and grandchildren about Hilton Armstrong and how hard work and trust in his coaches transformed him from skinny bench-warmer to 1st round NBA draft pick.
As Jim Calhoun bids farewell to coaching, another student of his will step in. Kevin Ollie shares a similar story to Armstrong and understands the responsibilities that come with wearing “Connecticut” across your chest. Hopefully his road to success will be easier than Calhoun’s, but odds are it won’t. Ollie wouldn’t want it to be. And neither would Jim Calhoun.
