The crowd went wild. Thousands of fans held up signs and the student section chanted "Hall of Fame" as UConn men's basketball coach Jim Calhoun won his 700th game Wednesday evening at Gampel Pavilion as UConn beat the Georgetown Hoyas 83-64.

Calhoun joins an elite fraternity as one of 19 division one basketball coaches to ever win 700 games. He is one of 6 active coaches to accomplish the feat. With the victory over Georgetown Calhoun also recorded his 20th twenty win season.

At the conclusion of the game, Calhoun was honored at center court with a framed collage of great moments in UConn basketball history as well as a cake presented to him by his players. The coach was also surprised with a video of congratulations from former UConn stars Richard Hamilton, Ray Allen, and Emeka Okafor as well as Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim, who just eclipsed the 700 win mark himself.

Connecticut forward Charlie Villanueva showed up to address the media after the game complete with a piece of Calhoun's victory cake.

"I want to thank coach Calhoun for getting 700 wins...this cake is good right now," joked Villanueva.

"It's an unbelievable feeling," said Villanueva. "I'm just grateful and honored to be a part of it. I'm speaking for my teammates as well because they feel the same way. I'm just happy to be a part of it."

Villanueva acknowledged that the team had extra incentive to pull out a victory over the Hoyas.

"We were definitely focused and pumped up for this game," said the sophomore power forward. "We wanted to do this for coach and we did it for him. We played pretty well."

But in the midst of his milestone, and as well as the Huskies played, Calhoun had something else on his mind immediately following the win. A big part of what makes Calhoun such a great coach is his focus, determination, and drive to be the best, as evident from his reaction when he entered the UConn locker room after the game.

"He just finished getting his 700th win and the first thing he says is that we had too many turnovers," said Villanueva. "That's just the type of guy he is, he's a great coach. I'm just happy to be a part of this tradition and be a part of UConn and a part of the 700 wins."

As Calhoun looked back on 700 victories he turned the attention from himself to his players and assistants over his coaching career.

"A coach is only a reflection of so many assistants and great players," said Calhoun. "From Howie (Dickenman), when he first started with me, to David (Leitao), to Glenn Miller, to (Karl Hobbs), to Tom (Moore) and now George (Blaney), and just the cast of great players that we’ve been fortunate enough to have. The two great universities that I’ve been associated with, Northeastern and certainly my 19 years here at UConn. That’s what’s made it all possible. You can’t win games without players, and you can’t win games without players that will listen to you. You may find this shocking, but I’m not the easiest guy to play for, because I demand a lot."

Calhoun has demanded a lot from both his players and assistant coaches, but in doing so he has also given everything he has of himself to them and to the game of basketball. In turn, his former players, assistant coaches, and the game of basketball itself have all been very good to Jim Calhoun as well, 700 times over.

Jim Calhoun will also be honored with the prestigious John R. Wooden "Legends of Coaching" award which will be presented during the Wooden Award ceremony April 9, 2005 at the Los Angeles Athletic Club. The Wooden Award Committee adopted the "Legends of Coaching" Award in 1999 to recognize the lifetime achievements of coaches that exemplify Coach Wooden’s high standards of coaching success and personal achievement.

Calhoun is also 1 of 16 finalists for induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2005. The inductees will be announced April 4th in St. Louis prior to the 2005 National Championship game. The Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2005 will be inducted during ceremonies at the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts on September 8-10, 2005.

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