Class acts

Calhoun, Hamilton entering National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame

Two important figures in the history of UConn men’s basketball are part of the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame’s Class of 2022.

Jim Calhoun and Richard Hamilton have been selected for enshrinement into the Kansas City-based Hall of Fame. The induction ceremony is Nov. 20 and is part of the annual Hall of Fame Classic tournament.

Calhoun, already a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, was part of the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame’s founding class in 2006. But he’ll be formally honored this year, along with 2006 class member Roy Williams.

Hamilton and Calhoun are part of a 2022 induction class that includes former players Larry Miller of North Carolina, Frank Selvy of Furman, and the late Jimmy Walker of Providence, along with former coaches John Beilein, Jerry Krause, and Lon Kruger.

Calhoun won NCAA titles in 1999, 2004, and 20011. Hamilton, of course, was a big part of the 199899 title team, earning firstteam All-American, Big

East Player of the Year, and Final Four Most Outstanding Player.

With 920 victories at Northeastern, UConn, and Saint Joseph, Calhoun is sixth on the current NCAA all-divisions win list. His is one of six coaches with three or more Division I NCAA titles and he reached four Final Fours with UConn.

Calhoun also led UConn to 16 NCAA Tournaments, won 10 Big East regular season titles and seven Big East Tournaments.

He retired in 2012, but returned in 2018 as the first men’s basketball coach at Division III Saint Joseph in West Hartford. Calhoun retired again in November 2021.

Hamilton scored 2,036

Paul Sancya / Associated Press Former Detroit Pistons player Richard Hamilton, left, shakes hands with his coach at UConn, Jim Calhoun, after an NBA game against the Boston Celtics in Auburn Hills, Mich., in 2017.