Longtime Connecticut Huskies coach Jim Calhoun announced he will be retiring on Thursday at a scheduled press conference.
The 70-year-old and Hall of Famer has coached at Connecticut for over 25 years and has won three national championships. Kevin Ollie, an assistant coach and former player of Calhoun, will be named successor by the legendary coach.
"I always said that I would know when it was time, whenever that might be," Calhoun said Thursday in a statement released by the university. "The hip injury really didn't enter into the decision, except that it gave me more time to think about it and the more I thought about it, the more I became convinced that this was the right time to move on to the next phase of my life."
Over his career Calhoun has had great success, coaching to 873 wins, including over 600 at UConn. He was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2005. Calhoun's wins ranks him 10th on the all-time list, behind legendary names like Bobby Knight, Jim Boeheim, Dean Smith and Adolph Rupp.
The coach has struggled in recent years with health issues, including three bouts with cancer and a fractured hip from a bicycle accident last month. He missed eight games last season due to a spinal condition and received back surgery.
"Am I going to miss coaching basketball? Of course," Calhoun said in a statement. "But I'm making sure I get my fix by watching the workouts. I have no doubt that Kevin and the staff will do a great job."
Last season UConn finished at 20-14 and lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament to Iowa State.
Calhoun has also dealt with controversy in recent years, including having to serve a three-game suspension last season for violations in 2008 related to recruiting. The investigation also showed that Calhoun's staff improperly contacted recruits and gave improper gifts.
The school also had recent academic issues. The team failed to qualify academically for next year's NCAA tournament due to new rules implemented in 2011.
Calhoun grew up in Braintree, Massachusetts and has had a long and successful coaching career. It began as a high school coach before moving on to Northeastern. He coached there for 14 years with a record of 245-138 and led the team to five NCAA tournament appearances.
In 1986 Calhoun was hired by Connecticut and turned the team into one of the most successful college programs. The team won the NIT title his second year and won 10 Big East regular-season titles as well as 7 Big East tournaments.
Calhoun won his first NCAA championship with the Huskies in 1999 after leading the team to a 34-2 record. The team beat Duke 77-74.
In 2004 the team was ranked No. 1 for most of the season and won their second championship against Georgia Tech 82-73. The team was dominant, winning six tournament games by over 15 points.
The most recent championship came in 2011 after UConn finished ninth in the Big East. The team went on an amazing run to win the Big East tournament and won 11 straight games, including in the national championship game against Butler, winning 53-41.
At 68, Calhoun became the oldest coach to win an NCAA championship.
The coach is the state's highest-paid employee after he signed a five-year, $13 million contract in 2010.
Ollie spent 13 years working in the NBA and was hired as a UConn assitant in 2010.
"I am very honored and humbled to become the UConn men's basketball coach," Ollie said in a statement. "I cannot put into words how grateful I am to Coach Jim Calhoun, who retires today as one of the most legendary coaches in the history of college basketball. Coach Calhoun brought me here to Connecticut as a person right out of high school and has mentored me into the person I have become today."
Calhoun coached many great players while at UConn, including future NBA players Emeka Okafor, Ben Gordon, Ray Allen and Richard Hamilton.
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