Episode 2 - The Arrival of Jim Calhoun

Episode 2 of The Dream Season Podcast chronicles the hiring of Jim Calhoun as well as the 1986-87 season, his first as UConn's head coach.

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Books referenced in this episode:
Dare to Dream, by Jim Calhoun & Leigh Montville
UConn Basketball Vault, by Ken Davis
Hoop Tales, by Wayne Norman & Robert Porter

Audio clips are from interviews conducted by myself and from YouTube.

Thanks for listening!

Transcript

Hi and welcome to The Dream Season Podcast, an oral history of the 1989-90 UConn men’s basketball season, also known as, The Dream Season.

This Episode 2, The Arrival of Jim Calhoun.

On Monday, May 14, 1986, Dom Perno resigned as head coach of the UConn men’s basketball team. The next day, athletic director John Toner announced that he would oversee a search committee made up of 14 people.

Among the members of that committee were Dee Rowe, who was an associate athletic director at the time, Tim Tolokan, the associate athletic director for communications and Gerry Besselink, the newly named captain, who would be entering his senior year.

Here’s Tolokan:

On the day Perno announced his resignation, the names of some possible successors began to emerge. Among them were assistant coach Howie Dickenman, Fairfield head coach Mitch Buonogaro (who was an assistant for Rollie Massamino on Villanova’s 1985 national championship team) and Northeastern head coach Jim Calhoun.

The committee had a self-imposed deadline of May 18 to select the new coach.

Some other familiar names would express interest, such as future Hall of Famer George Karl (who later that month would be named the head coach of the Golden State Warriors) and recently retired NBA player, Butch Beard. 

However, by May 10, the list was narrowed down to Buonogaro, Calhoun and Nick Macarchuck, head coach of Canisus College. Macarchuk was interviewed on Friday, May 10, Buonogaro on Monday, May 12 and Calhoun on Tuesday the 13th. 

Calhoun was offered the job on Wednesday the 14th.

UConn’s former longtime Senior Associate Director of Athletics Communication Mike Enright remembers a moment during the previous season, that was possibly a premonition of Calhoun being offered the job:

John Toner said afterwards, [QUOTE] “There really was no other candidate in my mind aside from Jim. I knew he might not take it, so I needed a backup choice, but Jim was really the only one in my mind.” [END QUOTE]

Despite Calhoun’s interest in the job the moment it became available, it wasn’t a slam dunk decision for him.

Calhoun had been the head coach at Northeastern University in Boston since 1972. In 1979, he led Northeastern during their transition from Division 2 to Division 1 and proceeded to lead the Huskies to the NCAA Tournament four times.

However, he felt that Northeastern had plateaued as far as a program. Calhoun had a running joke with another Boston coach, Rick Pitino of BU. They liked to say that their matchups were a battle for 12th place in the hearts of Boston sports fans, after the Red Sox, Celtics, Bruins, Patriots, college hockey, etc.

Earlier that spring, Calhoun had an opportunity to become the head coach at Northwestern, a program in a larger conference (the Big Ten) and a larger city, Chicago. Calhoun spoke with friend and Indiana University head coach Bobby Knight, who told Calhoun that no one could win there and that he should avoid taking a job at any directional school. If the school had North, South, East or West in the name, look elsewhere. His last piece of advice was to find a state school. The University of Something, as they would have more resources and many more fans.

Gerry Besselink had a feeling during the interview process that Calhoun was going to be the choice. That presented some awkward moments for the soon to be senior forward:

As Calhoun mulled his decision, he met with a familiar name to UConn fans, Dee Rowe. Calhoun and Rowe had run in similar circles for several years, as Coach Rowe ran basketball coaching clinics in New England. Calhoun considered Rowe a dear friend and a mentor and their talk while walking around Mirror Lake on the UConn campus played a decisive role in Calhoun’s decision to accept the job.

Here’s Tim Tolokan again:

Calhoun broke the news to his family, much to the chagrin of his youngest son Jeff, who wanted to stay in Boston, and wore red Northeastern socks to his Dad’s introductory press conference as a form of protest.

Calhoun also made a point to meet with each of his Northeastern players individually to explain his decision to leave for UConn.

The next day, Thursday, May 15, 1986, a formal press conference was held at the Faculty and Alumni Center to introduce Jim Calhoun as the 17th men’s basketball head coach in UConn history. He received a seven year contract worth [QUOTE] “Big East money”[END QUOTE]

At the press conference, Calhoun said [QUOTE] “I’m not trying to be philosophical, but I look upon UConn as a ship. And I’m looking upon it as a new voyage, a new direction. I’m going to do everything in my power to make UConn the best basketball team it can possibly be. I don’t work miracles, but I will work as hard as I can work.”[END QUOTE]

Long time radio play by play broadcaster Bob Heussler had some memories of Calhoun from his days at Northeastern:

Jim Calhoun had his work cut out for him. One of his first acts as head coach was retaining assistant coach Howie Dickenman. Calhoun was impressed with Dickenman’s loyalty to the program, as he stuck around to bridge the gap between coaches after Dom Perno’s resignation. He also appreciated how Howie didn’t blame his previous boss for any of the issues the program faced. Calhoun figured if he would defend his last boss, he'd defend his current boss as well.

The next assistant Calhoun hired was Dave Leitao, one of his former players at Northeastern, as well as an assistant on Calhoun’s staff the previous two seasons.

Bill Cardarelli, a coach at St. Thomas Aquanis High School in New Britain, Connecticut, was the third and final assistant coach on Calhoun’s staff for the 1986-87 season. One of Cardarelli’s tasks was to keep a close eye on Connecticut high school players.

Jim Calhoun was faced with a daunting challenge and not a lot of time in which to accomplish all that needed to be done before the first practice in October.

Because he was hired after the spring semester had ended, he was not able to meet with his players as a group until they returned to campus in September.

He did have the 66 page report from the President’s Task Force on Athletics, which was published just weeks before he was hired. That report strongly influenced his decision to accept the job. He saw the task force as a sign that the university was committed to turning around the athletic program and he was bound and determined to follow through on the recommendations.

He was so committed to the report that the first section of his newly signed contract read as such: “It is acknowledged by the University that part of the reason ‘Coach’ has entered into this agreement is with the expectation that the University shall use its best efforts to implement the recommendations of the University Task Force on Athletics, particularly as such recommendations relate to the University’s basketball program, and the University shall use such best efforts in cooperation with ‘Coach’.”

And while the report, which he kept in his desk for the next several years, guided Calhoun, the changes that were needed weren’t going to take place overnight. 

That didn’t stop him from trying.

Calhoun spent the spring and summer of 1986 meeting with admissions staff, administrators, professors, players, and recruits..

A major focus for Calhoun was trying to revamp the academic support system for student athletes. If you recall from the Task Force report, the major recommendation was to abolish the old academic support system, which clearly wasn’t working, and create a new program as soon as possible.

This would be a battle Calhoun would fight for the next several months until the changes were finally implemented. 

Unfortunately, there were still academic casualties yet to come.

The on-campus facilities were another major problem for the program. The coaches' offices were on the second floor of the Field House, with no air conditioning and what Calhoun described as a “curious, foul-odor that never left, ever.” The offices were still equipped with rotary dial phones, which Coach Dickenman determined cost them 5.2 seconds per call when compared with a touch-tone phone. The phones were quickly upgraded.

Because the seating capacity at the  Field House was so small, it was not allowed to be used for any Big East matchups, hence all Big East games were played at the Hartford Civic Center or the New Haven Coliseum if the Civic Center wasn’t available.

Plans for a brand new, on-campus sports center had been presented to the UConn board of trustees in 1975 but had been delayed over the years for various reasons. Architectural drawings of the facility had been drawn up but the money was never raised and ground had never been broken. 

Calhoun had shown Besselink the plans and Besselink remembered them being the same ones that he was shown four years prior.

As for the actual basketball team, there were only five returning players from the previous season, so another area of focus for Calhoun was ensuring that the two incoming freshmen were still on board after the coaching change.

For Steve Pikiell, a 6 foot 2 inch guard from Bristol Connecticut, there was never any doubt about his commitment.

The other incoming freshman was a different story. Tate George, a 6 foot 4 inch guard from Scotch Plains, New Jersey, initially wanted to change his decision after learning of Perno’s resignation. However, a visit from Coach Dickenman eased the concerns of both Tate and his mom, and George would be on his way to Storrs in the fall.

All of those issues represented the immediate concerns for Jim Calhoun. However, he also had a long-term vision for turning the program around, or as he described it, his battle plan.

1. Land the great, in-state high school players. Build a theoretical barbed-wire fence around Connecticut and keep those kids in the state. He wanted to identify them at the grassroots level and then make them aware of what they could achieve at UConn.
2. Recruit athletes. This was his recipe for success at Northeastern. He learned early on that speed, strength and height were far more important than fundamentals, which can be taught.
3. Broaden the scope of recruiting to a national level. Calhoun realized he wasn’t going to be able to compete with players in the backyard of the established Big East schools, so he’d rather target the best players in states far from Big East cities. 
4. Make UConn a school that kids want to attend. In order to do that, the academic support needed to be in place and the new on-campus arena had to be built.
5. Quite simply, find good kids who are driven to succeed.

Recruiting the athletes that Calhoun wanted wasn’t going to be easy, considering the state of the program. There were a lot of negatives swirling about UConn but those could be used to UConn’s advantage.

Coach Leitao liked to tell recruits that, “sure you could go to St. John’s and be the next Chris Mullin. Or, you could come to UConn and be the first YOU. YOU can set the bar for the next generation of players to reach.”

Coach Dickenman would sell the idea of playing against the best players in the conference and proving that you belonged in the same league as them.

Other schools would try to convince kids that UConn was completely isolated, in the middle of nowhere. Calhoun and his staff would counter with the fact that both New York and Boston were just a short car ride away.

The lack of players in Calhoun’s first year also presented an opportunity that a lot of other schools couldn’t; playing time and lots of it.

The conference itself was the ultimate recruiting tool. Ever since the league exploded on the national college basketball scene, the allure of the Big East was something that UConn attempted to exploit.

Here’s Mike Enright:

Coach Leitao talks about how he & the staff approached recruiting:

Once September rolled around, Calhoun was finally able to meet with his new team as a group. 

Here’s senior Gerry Besselink again, with what he remembers from that meeting:

The first official practice was on Wednesday, October 15, 1986.

There were only five returning players, two freshmen and nine walk-ons participating. Steve Pikiell, who had dislocated his right shoulder the week prior diving for a loose ball, was unable to take part in the fun.

The first hour of the practice was behind closed doors in Guyer Gym before moving to the Field House for the remaining hour and 15 minutes. Junior Jeff King said [QUOTE] “It was the hardest practice I’ve ever been through. It was very hard.’[END QUOTE]

Calhoun thought differently. Said Coach, [QUOTE] “We didn’t want to work them too hard today. Today was a good day for introductions.” [END QUOTE]

Here’s Besselink again:

The team started the season with an exhibition matchup against the Melbourne Tigers, a touring national team from Australia. The Tigers had just lost to Boston College by 22 points the night before.

Melbourne bounced back from that loss and defeated UConn 100-92, behind 42 points from Andrew Gaze. Gaze would eventually end up playing for another Big East team, Seton Hall, leading the Pirates to the 1989 NCAA Championship game.

Fifteen minutes after that game ended, the players became first-hand witnesses to another Calhoun tradition, the post-defeat, midnight practice session.

One other notable event from the loss to Melbourne was that Steve Pikiell dislocated the same shoulder he had injured before the season, diving for another loose ball with just two seconds left in the game. He would miss the first seven games of the season.

Calhoun’s first team at UConn was led by senior Gerry Besselink, junior center Jeff King, two sophomores, forward Cliff Robinson and guard Phil Gamble, and the two freshmen, guards Tate George & Steve Pikiell.

They would win their opening game of the season against UMass but followed that up with an overtime loss at Yale.

On Tuesday, December 9, UConn traveled to Boston to take on BU. On the way to the game, the UConn bus was involved in an accident on the Mass Pike. The bus was too damaged to continue and Calhoun attempted to postpone the game to another day. BU administrators refused. The Huskies didn’t arrive at the arena until 9 pm and were only given 45 minutes to warm up.   

BU won the game, 80-71. Calhoun was furious with the lack of sensitivity on the part of BU.

Calhoun had defeated BU eight straight times while at Northeastern. BU head coach Mike Jarvis said after the game, [QUOTE] “Are we trying to find excuses for UConn? Are we folks? If Calhoun doesn’t come back, he’ll never know if he could beat BU. We’ve played teams before that never came back. That’s no problem.” [END QUOTE]

Gerry Besselink remembers the game and the aftermath:

UConn was 6-6 overall after their first three Big East games, before dropping their next four. Then, on January 25, 1987, Cliff Robinson and Phil Gamble were declared academically ineligible. That left UConn with only five scholarship players, with the rest of the team made up of walk-ons, including a goalie from the soccer team and a baseball player.

Here’s Tim Tolokan recalling the meeting when Calhoun learned that he was about to lose two of his top players for the rest of the season to academic difficulties:

The day after losing Cliff and Phil, UConn traveled to Boston College, severely undermanned. 

The Huskies proceeded to shoot 64 percent from the field, led by Tate George with 15 points, Steve Pikiell with 14 and Gerry Besselink’s 13 points & 13 rebounds to come away with a 66-60 upset win on the road.

Wrote Ken Davis in the Hartford Courant, “Miracle might be too strong a word, but what the University of Connecticut did Tuesday night was nothing short of incredible.”

Five days later, a report surfaced that the Big East was [QUOTE] ”concerned with the events at UConn” [END QUOTE], referencing the academic situation as well as the poor facilities being a major hindrance with regards to recruiting. Big East associate commissioner Mike Tranghese did clarify that UConn’s status as a member of the Big East Conference was NOT in jeopardy.

The Huskies lost eight of their next nine games, before hosting Seton Hall at the Civic Center in the final home game of the season. Despite losing Steve Pikiell and backup guard Greg Economou in the first half to concussions, UConn won a thriller, 56-54. The crowd of 8,130 appreciated the effort of the Huskies and demanded a curtain call, which the team gladly obliged.

Next up was the Big East Tournament, where for the second consecutive year, the Huskies would square off with Boston College in the dreaded Eight Nine game, the matchup between the bottom two teams in the conference. 

Calhoun scheduled the team to stay the weekend in New York, regardless of whether they won or not. Said Calhoun [QUOTE] “They always seemed to come in, play, leave and that was it. Regardless of what happens, we don’t want it to be that way. We want the kids to see that with a couple of recruits and the return of a couple of players, we’ll be part of that scene.’ [END QUOTE]

The Huskies watched the rest of the tournament as spectators, after losing 61-59, despite Steve Pikiell’s career-high 27 points.

UConn finished the season with a 9-19 record, tying the school record for most losses in a season. The loss to BC was also the Huskies 8th straight loss in the Big East tournament.

Despite the poor win loss record, Calhoun felt that progress had been made. He felt that competitiveness and mental toughness had been added to the program. Tate George set the record for assists by a freshman and the creation of the Counseling Program for Intercollegiate Athletics, along with a dedicated counselor for the players, Ruth Meade, was already paying dividends in the classroom.

Here’s Calhoun recalling the impact of the revamped academic support programs:

Steve Pikiell remembers seeing the influence Calhoun had on the program over the course of that season: 

Turns out, Jim Calhoun is a man of his word.

Coming up on the next episode of The Dream Season Podcast, UConn goes on a magical ride in March.

The Dream Season Podcast is researched, written & produced by me, Matt Edwards. Written sources for this episode include, the Hartford Courant archives, Dare to Dream by Jim Calhoun and Leigh Montville, Ken Davis’ University of Connecticut Basketball Vault and Hoop Tales, UConn Huskies Men’s Basketball by Robert Porter and The Mayor, Wayne Norman

If you have any memories to share about anything I just mentioned, want to correct me on something I screwed up or just have general feedback to give, send me an email at dreamseasonpodATgmail.com or call and leave me a message at (903) 884 - EIGHTY NINE NINETY. 

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