Jim Calhoun

Winning a Big East regular season and tournament championship meant more than a National Championship

I think that actually might mean more than the national championship. Deep down it is... Boy did we all miss, you know, Jimmy [Boeheim] and all of us... it's much better fighting your own neighborhood. The guys you know, the guys you have to recruit against.

If you play for Rick Pitino, you always have a chance to win

Pitino who I don't like, he doesn't like me. And that's cool. Tell you one thing, man can coach all the other bullshit aside. You'll play for them. If you play for them, you got a chance to win.

The current college basketball transfer portal is bad for the game

I see what 1500 1600 kids transferring. It's a different game, but I don't think it's a good game... The problem is, are we in fact making [it]? ... transferring, I don't think it's a good game.

SEC Football and Big East Basketball were the two hardest things in sports at the time

The Southeast conference of football and the Big East basketball, the two hardest things I've ever seen at that time. Six out of nine of us are in the hall of fame that coached. And that's crazy.

The 2004 UConn team had the best talent of any I ever coached

I think the magical team might've been '04... Because number two in draft Emeka Okafor, Ben Gordon, Josh Boone, Hilton Armstrong, Marcus Williams... that may be Kentucky and other teams. That's not us. And that was the best team I should say. Best talent.