The Mark Graham Sports Blog's posts tagged Connecticut Huskies

See all posts tagged with Connecticut Huskies »

• Report: Jim Calhoun Retirement Is "Imminent"

  September 12, 2012

  

  According to NBC Connecticut, a source has said that UConn men's basketball coach Jim Calhoun is expected to retire in the near future and said that is was "imminent".

  Calhoun, 70, has a had a history of medical issues and has taken leave of absences in the past, including a fractured hip from a bicycle accident in August.

  According to NBC Connecticut, nothing was been made official, nor has Calhoun made a decision as of yet.

  "Don't be surprised by anything, even this week," Calhoun said. However, another source said that it is all but finalized that Calhoun will step aside and retire as coach.

  UConn faces an NCAA Tournament ban for the 2012-2013 season after failing to meet the NCAA academic requirements for the 2007-2010 seasons.

  Calhoun took over a hapless UConn program in 1986, but soon led the team to prominence. In 1987, in his second season at UConn, the Huskies won the NIT. Calhoun has won 618 of his 873 wins at Connecticut and has won three national titles, most recently in 2011.

  It has been said that Calhoun would like assistant coach and former player Kevin Ollie to become the new head coach, but Athletic Director Warde Manuel said that no decision on Calhoun's successor has been made.

  0 Comments
• NCAA Does The Right Thing By Banning UConn

  February 13, 2012

  

  The NCAA has decided to uphold its ban of the UConn's men's basketball team for the 2013 NCAA Tournament due to low academic standards. And I could not be happier.

  The NCAA adopted a new Academic Progress Rate, or APR, in 2005, that has required programs to achieve an APR of 930. UConn has an APR of 893. The Huskies tried to appeal to the NCAA by creating their own penalties, such as not playing in the Big East Tournament and playing a shorter schedule, but the NCAA didn't take it.

  Good for the NCAA for not giving in to the mighty Big East. These players are student-athletes. Student comes first. You may have a free ride to college because you are great at basketball, but you still have to earn it in the classroom. Many players nowadays are just one-and-done, so they don't need to care about working in the classroom since they are going to leave after there freshman year anyway.

  That strategy is now killing UConn. The 930 APR put into place by the NCAA equates to about a 50 percent Graduation Success Rate, or GSR. So that means UConn is below 50 percent in terms of graduating players. Well below. Look at programs like Duke and Indiana, Bobby Knight always made sure his players attended class and pursue their degrees. Knight's Hoosiers were among the highest graduation rates in the NCAA. Mike Krzyzewski and his Duke Blue Devils have had the highest graduation rate in the country a record twelve times, most recently in 2005. Both were still winning programs and can prove that you can win and have an exceptional graduation rate.

  It seems like the days of Bob Knight and Coach K are gone in favor of the John Calipari's of the world, just do whatever it takes to get the best guy regardless of whether he graduates or not. So I applaud the NCAA for taking a stand and banning a major program like UConn and maybe it will make other programs take notice of their own problems and make their own athletes work in the classroom.

  You've been warned, John Calipari.

  0 Comments
• Paterno's Possible Replacements At Penn State

  November 10, 2011

  Now that Joe Paterno has been fired and the cleanup at Penn State can now begin. Who does Penn State turn to to repair the extensive damage done to this once proud and rich tradition? I have compiled a list of names that maybe Penn State should look at (in due time of course, finding a replacement is probably last on the list for the university at this time).

  • Former Texas Tech coach Mike Leach

  Mike Leach is a proven winner and very fiery coach, but will his system work in the Big Ten. Leach runs a pass heavy offense that worked in the Big 12, but I think for some reason it won't work so well in the Big Ten. He has also won at Texas Tech. Texas Tech was the doormat of the Big 12 before Leach got their and turned the ship around and made them contenders for a few seasons. A problem could be Leach's own controversies like locking Craig James' son in a shed. Does Penn State want to create more controversy with Leach after this ongoing controversy? I think not. Leach should still be looked at.

  • Former Florida coach Urban Meyer

  Urban Meyer would be a great candidate.... if he wants to come back. Meyer has retired twice while at Florida and is currently an analyst at ESPN. He does have some health issues that caused him to take his first leave of absence. How many years are you going to get out of Meyer? Meyer's longest head coaching gig was at Florida and that was only six seasons. Penn State should consider someone who wants to stay there for the long haul. Also, Meyer runs a spread offense that I believe would work pretty well in the Big Ten. Penn State already has a scrambling quarterback in Rob Bolden and Bolden would thrive under Meyer's offense.

  • Penn State defensive coordinator Tom Bradley

  Current interim head coach and defensive coordinator Tom Bradley will get his shot when he finishes the season out as head coach. Bradley has been very loyal to Penn State and has been a candidate for the vacancies at Temple, Pitt, and UConn. The players know Bradley and a familiar face in the locker room would put the players at ease and the offense and defense doesn't have to change and start anew. However, Penn State might want to start with a clean slate and just get someone not connected to Joe Paterno and just make a clean break from this scandal.

  • Miami Hurricanes head coach Al Golden

  Al Golden is a young coach and was once expected to replace Joe Paterno at Happy Valley. Golden done the impossible and turned the Temple Owls football program into a winner. Temple's 2009 season under Golden was the first winning season for the program since 1990. Also, Golden might want to leave Miami for his alma mater with Miami's own problems. Golden came into a problem at Miami and is now left with a program that could still face NCAA infractions. Golden did not know about these problems at Miami when he accepted the job and now could have a tough job winning at Miami with possible punishment from the NCAA. It just makes sense for Golden to leave for Penn State.

  • BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall

  Bronco Mendenhall would be a great choice for Penn State if they are trying to change their image and distance themselves further from Paterno. He is coach at BYU, a school that has strict guidelines for its student-athletes and Mendenhall has had no problems with players during his time at BYU. Mendenhall although virtually has no ties to the Big Ten or Penn State, having never been a coach or coordinator no further east than Louisiana. Mendenhall was also born and raised in Utah, so a move out of Utah seems very unlikely.

  Penn State has bigger fish to fry right now than trying to find the next football head coach, but eventually they do need to find a coach and hopefully it is one that will distance themselves further and further away from this horrendous scandal.

  0 Comments
• Report: Big 12 Formally Invites West Virginia

  October 28, 2011

  The Big 12's board of directors voted Friday morning to formally invited West Virginia to be its tenth team. The Big 12 chose West Virginia over its current Big East rival Louisville.

  This has been a wild week for the Big 12 with Missouri set to leave the Big 12 for the SEC. The Missouri to the SEC deal is not finalized, but no major roadblocks are expected.

  Lawmakers in Kentucky were lobbying on the Cardinals behalf with Sen. Mitch McConnell leading the way. The two West Virginia senators were also involved in trying to get the Mountaineers into the Big 12.

  Louisville head basketball coach Rick Pitino is urging Big East commissioner John Marinatto to add schools like Navy, Air Force, and Boise State for just football and Memphis, Temple, Houston, SMU, and Central Florida for all sports.

  The Big East, arguably the best college basketball conference, has lost three major basketball programs (Pittsburgh, Syracuse, and West Virginia) and certainly makes the Big East considerably weaker in basketball.

  Connecticut is looking for an out, too. The Huskies would like to join the ACC with their current and soon to be former Big East rivals Pittsburgh and Syracuse. If UConn does in fact leave, the Big East will die and we have greed and football to blame for this.

  0 Comments