by Donna Tommelleo
Associated Press
STORRS, Conn.? Connecticut men?s coach Jim Calhoun has prostate cancer and is leaving the team to undergo surgery.
?I want to attack this thing,? Calhoun said Monday at practice. ?I?m going after it.?
The 60-year-old Calhoun will take a three-to-four week medical leave, with assistant George Blaney taking over as coach on an interim basis. Surgery was scheduled for Thursday.
Calhoun?s doctor, UConn Health Center urologist Peter Albertsen, said the cancer was detected early and was ?relatively low-grade.?
?Coach Calhoun?s condition appears to be very treatable and we anticipate his return to normal job-related activities within three or four weeks,? said Albertsen, who will perform the surgery.
In his 17th season at Connecticut, Calhoun led the Huskies to national prominence, capped by an NCAA title in 1999. With a career record of 637-290, including 14 seasons at Northeastern, Calhoun is among the
top 10 active Division I coaches with at least 600 career wins.
The 18th-ranked Huskies (13-4, 4-2 Big East) play Wednesday at Virginia Tech. The Huskies are coming off a 95-71 loss to Providence on Saturday, their worst loss ever at Gampel Pavilion.
Last season, UConn won its seventh Big East regular-season championship under Calhoun. The Huskies then captured their fifth Big East tournament title.
Calhoun is the only coach in Big East history to have been named the league?s top coach four times. The Braintree, Mass., native is also a member of the New England Basketball Hall of Fame.
The Huskies have been to the NCAA tournament 10 times under Calhoun. Last year, they made the round of eight before losing to eventual national champion Maryland.
