No Suprise Calhoun Returns

With his third national championship in the books there was some speculation that UConn men's basketball coach Jim Calhoun wouldn't return to coach this year, but not from this fan. There was no chance Calhoun wasn't coming back, with four returning starters from last years team and a recruiting class that without Andre Drummond (and at this point we have to assume he won't be joining the team because he has yet to be accepted to the university and they're already almost done with the first week of classes) ranked 25th nationally Calhoun has a more experienced and potentially more talented team than the one that won the national championship in April. While the retirement settlement for the coach is a million dollar one time payment and a five year position elsewhere within the university is enticing to a coach who has battled cancer at three different times in his long career, it doesn't factor in the joy and rejuvenation Calhoun experienced coaching this group of youngsters last year and even without the likes of the nation's best player in Kemba Walker (a decision best discussed in another post) Calhoun has the core of the team he loved so much for another couple years. While the expectations for this team will vary greatly on the eventual status of Drummond, without him they will be about the same as they were at the start of last season with a finish somewhere in the middle of the pack in a Big East conference that will be stacked for March dominance yet again this year. But that wasn't enough to keep him away last year, and it was never going to be enough to keep him out this year.

Good to see you back in Storrs though coach, we missed you!