Thursday January 26, 2009
The two co-chairwomen of the legislative Higher Education Committee today wrote a letter to UConn President Michael Hogan questioning the behavior of Jim Calhoun, the untouchable basketball coach, who teed off last week on an independent reporter who deigned to suggest, in a post-game news conference, that the coach should return some of his $1.64-million salary in the state’s fiscal crisis.
Sen. Mary Ann Handley, D-Manchester, and Rep. Roberta Willis, D-Goshen, said Calhoun’s “emotional outburst does not reflect well on him as an individual or on our flagship academic institution.”
While the subsequent public uproar has been about his big-bucks salary, Willis and Handley believe that Calhoun should meet the same “high standards for conduct” to which he holds the team.
In an apparent attempt to avoid criticism from the Hall of Fame coach. UConn’s PR office delined comment this afternoon.