Calhoun reprimanded by Big East for comments on game officiating

Associated Press


PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- UConn basketball coach Jim Calhoun was publicly reprimanded by the Big East on Friday for comments he made about the officiating in UConn's win over Northeastern a day earlier.

Conference policy prohibits such comments, Big East Commissioner Michael Tranghese said. Calhoun apologized in a written statement Friday, agreeing the comments were inappropriate.

Calhoun received two technical fouls during the game and was ejected, his fifth ejection at Connecticut and his first since 2002. The Huskies went on to win 69-60.

One of Calhoun's technical fouls came after official Wally Rutecki heard the coach use profanity to address his players. Calhoun called Rutecki "a bad official" and "incompetent" during postgame media discussions.

"I will do everything I can to keep this from happening again in the future and, most importantly, will work to avoid putting my team, my university, the officials and the Big East in this unfortunate position again with ill-advised comments," Calhoun said in the statement.

Calhoun's other technical foul Thursday night was for laughing after Rutecki called an offensive foul on a UConn player.

Calhoun said afterward that while another referee apparently interpreted the laughter as ridiculing Rutecki's foul call, he could have been laughing over anything and added, "Maybe I had gas."