Calhoun retires as UConn basketball coach

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STORRS, Conn., Sept. 13 (UPI) -- Jim Calhoun, who won 873 games in a Hall of Fame coaching career, said Thursday he was retiring as the men's basketball coach at Connecticut.

University officials said assistant coach Kevin Ollie was being promoted to head coach to replace Calhoun.

Calhoun, 70, coached 26 seasons at Connecticut, building a 625-243 record that included NCAA championships in 1999, 2004 and 2011.

He said Thursday that coaching at "UConn has just been phenomenal, there's no other way to describe it."

"I will always be grateful to the University of Connecticut," he added. "When I look back and see what we were able to accomplish here, I am extremely proud."

Calhoun is a three-time cancer survivor and has had several other health issues, including a fractured hip suffered last July while riding a bike. He missed time last season because of a lower-back condition.

"The hip injury really didn't enter into the decision, except that it gave me more time to think about it and the more I thought about it, the more I became convinced that this was the right time to move on to the next phase of my life," Calhoun said.

In addition to the three national championships, Calhoun's Connecticut teams won seven Big East Tournament titles. Before joining the Huskies, he coached 14 seasons at Northeastern.

His overall record is 873-380 and Calhoun is one of only eight Division I coaches to win 800 games.

He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2005 and the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006.