Following the retirement of longtime Connecticut Huskies men's basketball coach Jim Calhoun, former UConn star and assistant coach Kevin Ollie will take the reins fo the team for the 2012-13 season, according to Jeff Goodman of CBS. Ollie's future coaching status with be evaluated after the season, Goodman reports.
Jim Calhoun Retirement: Kevin Ollie To Coach Huskies In 2012-13
Goodman also reports that Karl Hobbs will be promoted to a full-time assistant under Ollie, who starred for UConn between 1991 and 1995 before embarking on a 13-year NBA career that ended after the 2009-10 season, when he retired to come back to Storrs as an assistant. After Wednesday’s surprising announcement that Calhoun will step down, the Huskies needed a hook to bring new athletes into the program, and Hobbs has a lengthy history of being a quality recruiter.
This will be the first season since 1985 that someone other than Calhoun has entered a college hoops season as the Huskies’ head coach. Calhoun, 70, turned the once-middling program into a powerhouse within a few seasons, winning seven Big East tournaments, making a school-record four Final Four appearances and winning three national championships (1999, 2004 and 2011) under Calhoun’s stewardship.
For more on Jim Calhoun’s retirement, please be sure to check out The UConn Blog, SB Nation Boston, our college basketball hub and SB Nation for all the latest news and updates.
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