GOODBYE, JIM! Jim Calhoun, who led Connecticut to three national championships, will retire today. (Getty Images)
When Jim Calhoun was 15, his high school baseball coach walked onto the field and quietly spoke to his player.
“You have to go home, now,’’ Calhoun recalled his coach saying. “Your father’s dead.’’
Calhoun went to work in a rock quarry to support his mother and five siblings. That experience transformed Calhoun into a mentally and physically hardened force — exactly the characteristics needed to sweat and will Connecticut basketball from a floundering Yankee Conference program to a Big East Conference and national power.
Calhoun, 70, who is nursing a broken hip, will announce his retirement Thursday, The Post has learned.
Kevin Ollie, 39, a former Calhoun player and assistant coach, signed a one-year deal to be the team’s head coach that includes an evaluation of his work at the end of next season. Ollie also played in the NBA for 13 seasons.
“This is a sad day,’’ said a former player who confirmed Calhoun had decided to hang it up. “Connecticut basketball will never be the same. He did the greatest building job in the history of college basketball.’’
Calhoun led the Huskies to three national titles (1999, 2004, 2011) and another Final Four appearance in 2009. He was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2005.
But the last few seasons have been difficult. Calhoun beat cancer for the third time. He overcame five broken ribs suffered in a bicycle accident, had to have a spinal stenosis condition surgically repaired and now the broken hip.
The Huskies are not eligible to play in the 2013 NCAA Tournament after failing to meet Academic Progress Ratings (APR). It was the perfect storm of factors to convince Calhoun to step down.
“He took some heat the last few seasons, but people shouldn’t be so eager to see a Hall of Fame coach go,’’ the player said. “You know sometimes you think what’s behind curtain No. 2 is better than what you have. It’s usually not that way.’’
Calhoun went 625-243 in 26 seasons at UConn, winning seven Big East conference tournament titles. He was 248-137 in 14 seasons at Northeastern, winning four America East crowns. His overall record is 873-380 and no excuses.
“I enjoyed Jim’s intellect, sense of humor and naturally the trademark passion for competing during the tournament,’’ said St. John’s coach Steve Lavin, who was with Calhoun on a USO goodwill tour to Japan several years ago. “Karl Hobbs and Dave Leitao were on the tour as well and it was nice to see firsthand the authentic camaraderie he shares with his former players and assistants.’’
A self-described tough Irish-Catholic from Braintree, Mass., Calhoun wore his emotions on his sleeve. His rage-stare at players who failed to hustle or execute could cut rock.
He used the few rows of stands filled with family, friends and boosters as his group therapists, pleading his case on what he perceived to be blown calls. His other passions are the Red Sox, New England clam chowder and family.
Calhoun, who lost both of his parents to heart disease, and his wife, Pat, founded the Pat and Jim Calhoun Cardiology Center. He also has been an advocate to raise awareness for child autism.
There will be more time to devote to those endeavors, to his two sons and six grandchildren. His wit and bluntness make him an ideal candidate for TV. But the days of uniting a group of players into a team are over.
“He didn’t just make me the player I am today,’’ said Kemba Walker, after the two joined forces to lead UConn to the 2011 title. “He made me the man I am.’’