Men’s basketball coaching legend Jim Calhoun talks NIL, NCAA transfers and his new namesake gymnasium at Saint Joseph

Jim Calhoun is never far away from college students, or basketball. As he nears his 80th birthday next week, he can still be found nearly every day chatting with players in his office overlooking the basketball court at the University of Saint Joseph, which could now be called “Jim’s Gym.”

“You know I have to do something,” said Calhoun, who retired as men’s basketball coach last November.

The arena inside the new O’Connell Athletic Center will be named the Hall of Fame Coach James A Calhoun Gymnasium. Calhoun, who created the Division III men’s basketball program at Saint Joseph, was honored Thursday as the Calhoun Legacy Fund was established with a goal of raising $1 million to aid students.

“We’re using every dollar to ensure that every student who deserves a Saint Joseph education can get one, regardless of their family circumstances,” university president Rhona Free said. “So we will use the fund every year to support students with direct scholarships, not just athletes, Jim is committed to helping all students, and also making sure we have support staff.”

Funds will be available to help students with the cost of books, and other college-related expenses.

Calhoun, who retired 10 years ago as men’s basketball coach at UConn where he won three national championships, came to Saint Joseph in 2017 as the school transitioned from all-female to co-ed. He and Glen Miller, who is now head coach, built the program quickly. The Blue Jays reached the NCAA Tournament in 2020 and 2022.

“All of our lives changed when Coach Calhoun came here,” said Sam Majek, one of the first recruits who is graduating summa cum laude with degrees in chemistry and biology and is headed to UConn’s dental school. “This fund will be awesome because people don’t talk about the price of Division III. We don’t get scholarships. We’re trying to get guys from this area who want to be here.”

Calhoun will be offering his hand’s-on support to the fund and the school, but the problems of major college basketball are on his mind, too. The ability of students to earn money for the use of their name, image and likeness, and the eased transfer rules, are creating a different game with unintended consequences.

The money is spiraling into the millions. Last week, Miami basketball player Isaiah Wong said, through his NIL representative, that he would leave school if the NIL income didn’t meet his demands.

“If I was coaching, would I do NIL? Of course, you’ve got to compete,” Calhoun said. “What’s the long-term effect going to be? You don’t have to be a coach or anything else to say, ‘now, let me get this straight. I can go anywhere I want, any time I want, through the transfer portal, and you’re going to pay me?’ And the government says there is no turning back. That’s what scares me. I love college athletics and I always will, but we’ve got to get some form of [control.] Legal, regulated things. There’s got to be a much better way than the wild, wild west. I said this a year ago that it’s not going to work. I wish I was wrong.”

Calhoun believes the NCAA was so restrictive for so long, and inconsistent in its transfer rules, it was then pressured into changes. Now that players no longer have to sit when transferring, the transfer portal is flooded. More than 1,500 student-athletes are transferring in men’s basketball alone. Four players have left UConn via the NCAA portal since the end of the season, and so far two have come in. Calhoun believes this new era of free agency was a contributing factor in the retirements of iconic coaches Mike Krzyzewski and Jay Wright.

“You hear, ‘I can’t get five transfers and play the way I want to play,’” Calhoun said. “What I see is not a good ending. I don’t know what the good ending is. I know people say, ‘kids should to be able to transfer.’ Yeah ... I hate to throw everything at the NCAA because they have an impossible job, I understand that. But when they picked and chose who got a waiver and who didn’t, that kind of set this whole thing up.

“I would adapt, sure. But right now, it’s not in a great state. I worry about our future.”

Dom Amore can be reached at damore@courant.com