Jerrod Calhoun watched his “revenge tour” with Utah State end Sunday by falling to Arizona. Turns out that's his last game as Aggies head coach too. Cincinnati basketball is bringing in the now former USU head coach as of Monday.
Calhoun guided his Mountain West Conference champion team to the upset of Villanova. The HC shared how USU used that victory as fuel for being handed a lower seed than they originally expected. Plus became motivated by key losses in Mountain West Conference play that led into their ninth seed in the West Regional.
The future Pac-12 school, however, appeared on the Bearcats' radar after firing Wes Miller. Cincy now can turn to a March Madness coach to reignite this once proud program.
Time to grade this hire from the Bearcats.
Cincinnati smartly brings back alum with ties to glory years
The Bearcats turn to a familiar face here in the name of reigniting fan interest and sparking future NCAA Tournament runs.
Calhoun played then coached under the legendary Bob Huggins, the winningest coach in Bearcats history. The 44-year-old Calhoun eventually joined Huggins at West Virginia to start his coaching career from 2007 to 2012.
Calhoun then took the leap of faith and accepted an NCAA Division II gig with Fairmont State. But he delivered an impressive 124-38 mark there. He later returned to the NCAA Division I realm with Youngstown State, going 118-106 there.
USU won 55 games with Calhoun coaching up the Aggies. That includes celebrating a return to the top of the MWC this past season.
It's more than school ties that should win over Bearcat roundball fans here.
Calhoun will bring fast style that'll win back fans
Utah State wore down teams off the transition attack. Villanova failed to keep up in the end once USU turned to its fast break approach. USU led the conference in averaging 14.1 points per game when the Aggies got up and ran.
Arizona forced Calhoun's squad to play a half court game, throwing them off their element. Calhoun also didn't have the frontcourt depth to withstand Arizona's impressive lineup of bigs.
Now Calhoun can attract and have a stronger chance of recruiting size at Cincinnati. He lands in a basketball crazed state and in a region he's recruited from before. Cincinnati representing the Big 12 also gives him more of an advantage at winning over recruits.
Calhoun wins everywhere he's coached. This is a solid hire his alma mater is making.
Grade: B+
