After nearly 43 years of marriage, Pat Calhoun doesn't even bother anymore.
Her two sons and daughter-in-law give her that look, the one that questions and prods on whether or not she will tell her stubborn husband what to do.
"They assume I'm going to control his life and tell him what he can and can't do like a 7-year-old," she laughs. "But I have no control over him whatsoever. I've given up."
Her husband, UConn head coach Jim Calhoun, celebrated his 67th birthday in May. He could — and probably should — be spending his July sitting on a beach somewhere, playing with his six grandchildren.
Instead, he sits on chairs and in bleachers with aching ribs watching ugly AAU basketball.
A year ago, Calhoun spent the weekdays receiving radiation treatment for skin cancer and the weekends on the recruiting trail.
He was hospitalized in March for acute stress the night before UConn's NCAA tournament opener against Chattanooga and wasn't allowed to coach the first-round contest.
Calhoun isn't quite 100 percent this month, either. He broke eight ribs (that was the final tally by the doctors) in a bike accident about a month ago — but still spent seven of the first 10 days around the country eyeballing recruits.
"He's an animal," said former UConn assistant Tom Moore, now the head coach at Quinnipiac.
"I really enjoy the game," Calhoun said. "Plus, if we're going to recruit these kids, I feel like you have to be out there watching them. I don't feel like there's any choice."
