Jim Calhoun and Jim Boeheim were once young college basketball coaches whose main concerns were how to stop an opponent's point guard from penetrating and whether that high school kid from across town was worthy of a scholarship offer.
Calhoun and Boeheim aren't young anymore. And although they're still much engaged in basketball-related issues, they now have to concern themselves with personal health.
Perhaps the most prolific coaches in the Big East -- Calhoun of Connecticut and Boeheim of Syracuse -- have each battled cancer, with Calhoun in the midst of recovering from a recent surgery to remove skin cancer. They, along with many others, were on hand to talk about the disease yesterday at the Coaches vs. Cancer Golf
Invitational at Inverness Club.
"We'll raise a few million dollars each year, but it's really about awareness," Boeheim said. "I got tested, and Jim Calhoun got tested, and that's why we're still here."
Calhoun has been declared cancer-free after a May 6 surgery to remove a lump near his jaw line. He'll go through six weeks of radiation treatments beginning later this month.
"I'm a living testimony of why this is such a terrific idea," Calhoun said of the event. "The technology and the scans and the needle biopsies, and all the various ways they can track it is absolutely amazing."
Finding time to examine health issues isn't the only challenge faced by coaches. Often operating on little sleep and a poor diet, along with mounting stress from a difficult job, members of this profession are certainly at risk of running into health problems.
"I think that's something that all of us struggle with," Villanova's Jay Wright said. "We know it's important, and all of us are so competitive that sometimes we can get away from that and maybe not eat properly, maybe not exercise enough. When you get older you understand how important it is."
Like Wright, University of Toledo's new coach Gene Cross apparently is blessed with good health. But at just 36 Cross said he understands the importance of listening to one's body when something feels odd.
"I think that it's very, very important if you feel something going on with yourself that you go get yourself checked out because you never know what it could be," Cross said. "Young or not, you just have to be careful and listen to your body."
Cancer was not the only topic of discussion yesterday. It was also a day of fun, and many of the coaches on hand were curious to see what some of their cohorts would shoot on the par 72 course.
"Basketball coaches are really not that good," Boeheim said. "A couple guys you have to question their handicap a little bit. I think they've put some fictitious numbers together."
Don't let Boeheim fool you. He's pretty decent on the links.
"He was better a few years ago, but he's getting old now," Maryland's Gary Williams said.
Williams, who coached for three seasons at Ohio State in the 1980s, still holds the university in high regard.
"The great thing I liked about Ohio State was regardless if you went to Bowling Green or Toledo, when Ohio State played, the people who lived in Ohio rooted for the Buckeyes," Williams said.
Williams spent time talking with former Buckeye great Jim Jackson, a Macomber graduate who played 14 seasons in the NBA.
"I signed Jimmy in October, then I left to go to Maryland in May," Williams said. "That's how smart I am."
Boeheim spoke highly of his first recruit at Syracuse -- current Bowling Green State University coach Louis Orr.
"I have tremendous respect for him, his knowledge of the game, and the way he handles his players and coaches,"
Boeheim said. "I think he'll be very successful here."
Among several other coaches who participated in the event were Minnesota's Tubby Smith, Alabama's Mark Gottfried, Saint Joseph's Phil Martelli, and
Virginia Tech football coach Frank Beamer.
Contact Ryan Autullo at:
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