"We vowed to win it the next year": When UConn legend Jim Calhoun reflected on aftermath of Elite Eight loss in 1998

Jim Calhoun is forever etched in UConn history, having led the Huskies to three national championships, but he had to fuel their road to success with the pain of losing. During an appearance on the “60 Days of Summer” series in 2017, Calhoun reflected on the tough moments that came before the glory.

The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame hosted the “60 Days of Summer,” and one of the guests was Hall of Famer Calhoun, who was inducted in 2005.

The former Huskies coach won the first of three national championships with the program in 1999, but that win was a result of disappointment in 1998. He told the story of how they made a promise to win the NCAA title after falling short despite their top form.

“The first team in ’99 was the one that lost in ’98 in the Elite Eight to North Carolina—in North Carolina—against Vince Carter and that crew,” he said.

“On the bus after that game—we were something like 30-4 or 30-5 that year, which is amazing—we’d just finished our media obligations and got on the bus to head to the airport, and we vowed right then to win it all the following year.”

The team fulfilled that promise with a dominant display the following year, a group Jim Calhoun described as “special.”

“The next season, we won 24 straight. That team had Khalid El-Amin, Richard Hamilton, Jake Voskuhl, Kevin Freeman, Ricky Moore—just a terrific group. Alonzo, too. It was a really, really good team.

“That was the ultimate team I ever coached. Duke had won 26 straight that year, and we won 24 straight. Both teams were terrific. We beat them because, at the end, we were just a little bit older and probably a little tougher. It took a really strong mentality to go 34-2 with that group. We were just really special.”

Calhoun went on to win two more national championships with the Huskies in 2004 and 2011. The latter made him the oldest coach to win an NCAA Division I men's basketball title at 68 years, 10 months and 25 days old. A year after the triumph, the coach retired, despite having two years left on his contract.

“I don't think an inferior team can win a championship” – Jim Calhoun

During his interview on the “60 Days of Summer” series, Jim Calhoun was asked which one of his three championship-winning teams overachieved based on their ability.

“I don't think you ever overachieved. I think it's impossible. I think you played your max. I truly believe that; I don't think an inferior team can win a championship,” Calhoun said. [15:00]

“I think a team that gets in the right bracket, you know, and plays the right teams and catches the magic, needs to win an NCAA tournament.” [15;18].

Jim Calhoun is widely regarded as one of the greatest coaches in college basketball history, and he is one of just six coaches in NCAA Division I history to win three or more national championships.