Battle in Seattle | A visit from hoop royalty: UConn's Jim Calhoun

In a miserable wintry day that paralyzed many of Seattle's citizens, Jim Calhoun felt at home. The subfreezing temperature and icy roadways reminded the Connecticut basketball coach of Storrs, Conn., where 14 inches of snow blanketed the East Coast college town.

"We left snowy conditions like what we had, flew 3,000 miles and now we're right back in it," Calhoun said. "It's a long way to go for a basketball game, but it's an important game."

Calhoun will coach his first and perhaps only game in Seattle today when the No. 2 Huskies face the eighth-ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs in front of an expected sold-out KeyArena crowd and a national TV audience.

In his only other visit to the state of Washington, Calhoun led UConn to two wins in the 2003 NCAA tournament in Spokane.

"I never had any calls from Washington to play us and Washington State hasn't called us," Calhoun said. "Gonzaga, after '99, we talked about playing them."

Calhoun is no stranger to the Pacific Northwest. He plucked Donny Marshall out of Federal Way, lured Doug Wrenn away from Seattle and unsuccessfully recruited Spencer Hawes and Jon Brockman. He attended the 1989 and '95 Final Fours at the Kingdome and appreciates the basketball culture in this region.

"You walk in here and you say, 'How come there's not a pro team in this city?' " Calhoun said. "It's a nice arena. You start thinking about some of the guys who have played here historically. You think about the fact that it's a great sports town. Washington basketball has been very, very good. It makes you scratch your head why there's not a pro basketball team here."

Basketball fans should take notice of today's game because it's not often a legendary coach strolls the KeyArena sideline.

Calhoun is basketball royalty, as noble as John Wooden and as regal as Dean Smith. He is a throwback, as old school as Adolph Rupp and as prickly as Bobby Knight. At 66, he has coached more games than any other active coach in Division I.

He has few peers anymore. The short list includes: Duke's Mike Krzyzewski, Syracuse's Jim Boeheim and Wisconsin's Bo Ryan.

Most of his friends have retired. Lute Olson left before the start of the season and Knight departed last year. And his former rivals John Thompson (Georgetown) and Lou Carnesecca (St. John's) and Rollie Massimino (Villanova) have left the Big East.

"I've coached against Jimmy at least from '75 to '76. I was at Wagner and he was at Northeastern," said P.J. Carlesimo, the former Sonics and Oklahoma City Thunder coach who watched Friday's practice from the stands.

"We all started together. Krzyzewski was at Army. Jimmy was at Northeastern. Bo Ryan was at Syracuse. Gary Williams was [at] American and BC as an assistant. That's our little group. We were together and he's outlasted us all. I'm not surprised because he has an amazing passion for coaching. Obviously, he's changed and he's able to adapt to his players, but fundamentally, he's still the same."

Several former players, including ex-Sonic Ray Allen, say Calhoun has mellowed. Junior Hasheem Thabeet, however, disagrees.

"If he's mellowed, I can't see it," said the 7-foot-3 center. "He pushes me very hard. Even when I think I have a good game, he's never satisfied. He always wants us to be better and better."

These days, Calhoun walks with a slight hitch in his step as he barks at players in a brash off-color brogue befitting Braintree, Mass., the working-class Boston suburb where he was raised.

The old neighborhood still defines Calhoun, who began coaching in the high school ranks in New England after graduating from American International College. In 1972, he accepted the head coaching job at Northeastern University and 14 years later had amassed a school-record 248 victories and five NCAA tournament appearances.

The move to Connecticut in 1986 drew little fanfare at the time. The Huskies were a downtrodden program that made just two NCAA appearances in the previous 19 years.

In his second season, Calhoun made basketball matter in Connecticut. During his 23-year tenure he directed the Huskies to NCAA titles in 1999 and 2004, 10 outright or shared Big East Conference regular-season titles, six Big East tournament titles, 15 NCAA tournament berths, 535 wins and 21 straight winning seasons. His résumé includes a Hall of Fame induction in 2006, 20 players selected in the NBA draft and seven ex-assistants who are now head coaches at Division I schools.

Still, Calhoun's biggest wins have been three successful bouts with cancer.

He battled prostate cancer in 2003, skin cancer in '07 and he had surgery to remove a cancerous mass from his neck last May. Calhoun underwent seven weeks of radiation treatments and lost 24 pounds. He's now cancer free.

When asked how much longer he'll coach, Calhoun said: "Why stop doing something you enjoy?"

Seemingly there are no more lions for Calhoun to slay, although friends say he covets another championship that would tie him with Krzyzewski. The Huskies (9-0) are a veteran squad led by four returning starters — guards Jerome Dyson and A.J. Price, forward Jeff Adrien and Thabeet. They're capable of winning a title.

"This is a great game to show we're ready for the Big East now," Calhoun said. "You beat a Gonzaga, you're ready for the Big East — physically, you're ready to play high-quality teams."

Needing just 17 victories, Calhoun said he isn't chasing the 800-win milestone, a plateau that only six coaches have climbed. Calhoun ranks eighth on the all-time wins list with 783.

So what drives him now?

"If I walk away from coaching someday and people say, 'He helped change a lot of young guys' lives and in the process he got them to compete and be successful,' then I'd be very happy," Calhoun said. "If the number [of wins] is 300 or 500 or 600, I don't think that's as important. I've lasted a long time because I've had a lot of good players.

"What matters most are the players and the people you associate with because they define you more than anything else. I'm happy to leave. But why leave? I'm having too much fun."

Percy Allen: 206-464-2278 or pallen@seattletimes.com