Be sure to check out today's New Haven Register for a feature on Charles Okwandu, UConn's 7-foot-1 recruit out of Nigeria. Okwandu is very raw, having played organized basketball for only a few years. In fact, when he played in a Pennsylvania summer league this past summer, it was the first time he had ever played in games with real referees.

Okwandu averaged 6.9 points and 8.4 rebounds last year at Harcum (Junior) College in Bryn Mawr, Pa. He often found himself in foul trouble, a product of still learning the game. He can step back and hit the mid-range jumper, and his JUCO coach, Drew Kelly, compares him to former Georgetown star Roy Hibbert.

Okwandu has three years of eligibility at UConn. His first will likely be spent as Hasheem Thabeet's apprentice.

Here's the story of Jim Calhoun's cancer announcement that will run in tomorrow's Register:

STORRS --- Jim Calhoun has won 773 career games and a pair of national championships. He will now try to defeat cancer for a third time.

Calhoun announced at a press conference on Friday that he recently had a golf ball-sized cancerous mass removed from the right side of his neck, just underneath his jaw. A biopsy of the mass had shown that it was squamous cell cancer, which Calhoun had had removed from his right cheek in 2007.

The mass was removed from his neck on May 6 by Dr. Jeffrey Spiro, at the UConn Health Center.

“To the best of my knowledge, coach is cancer-free now,” Dr. Spiro said.

However, beginning on June 24, Calhoun will undergo six weeks of radiation treatments as a precaution. The treatments (which are not chemotherapy) are expected to cause some fatigue, particularly towards the later stages, and should affect Calhoun’s summer schedule. But he has absolutely no plans on retiring after 22 seasons as UConn’s head men’s basketball coach.

“I look forward to coaching for an awful long time,” Calhoun said. “I’ve had a little bit of a setback, but I will fight through this.”

Added Dr. Spiro: “I don’t think that all of this will have any significant impact on his life, and certainly not on his ability to coach basketball.”

Calhoun, of course, had prostate cancer back in 2003 but missed only five games before returning to the sidelines. This cancer is completely unrelated to his prior bout with prostate cancer. Instead, the belief is that a rogue cell from his 2007 bout with skin cancer spread to the lymph nodes in his neck.

Looking well-tanned and fit, the six-inch, 53-stitch scar from the operation already fading away, Calhoun explained that he started feeling tired towards the end of this past season (“more so than normal”), while also suffering through an upper respiratory illness. He noticed a small lump in his neck that he thought was simply a boil. When the season was over and he went out on a recruiting trip, he became even more fatigued, and the mass and grown to the size of a marble.

About three weeks later, it was near the size of a golf ball, and Calhoun sought medical advice.

“I listened to my own body,” Calhoun explained. “I knew I didn’t feel right.”

At first, doctors thought it was a cyst, a result of his upper respiratory infection, but Dr. Spiro’s biopsy soon revealed otherwise.

“I went home to Pat (his wife), and we said we’d fight this thing together,” Calhoun recalled. “That ride home alone ... the only thing I thought about was Pat, my sons, my daughters-in-law, and my grandchildren. The No. 1 thing is, I want to be there to enjoy them.”

In fact, three days after his operation, on a Friday, Calhoun had tissue fluid drained from the area. The following Monday, he flew out to Oregon for a golfing trip that he’s been taking for years with his sons, Jeff and Jim, Jr.

“He didn’t slow down very much,” Dr. Spiro said, with a smile. “He’s doing very well.”

Still, the radiation treatments will hinder Calhoun’s summer schedule. He still plans on riding (either 25 or 50 miles) in the second annual Jim Calhoun Cancer Challenge Ride, a fundraising bike ride on Sunday, June 8 that begins and ends in Simsbury.

He still plans on playing some golf, though he won’t participate in this year’s Travelers Championship pro-am, as he has in years’ past. And he knows that his summer recruiting trips will be curtailed -- for instance, Calhoun won’t be able to attend this year’s Nike Peach Jam Invitational July 12-15 in South Carolina.

Calhoun’s radiation treatments will occur five times a week for six weeks. They’ll only last about 25-30 minutes but will take their toll physically, particularly towards the end of the regimen. But Calhoun’s resolve has never been stronger.

“I’m fortunate enough to have a great family, a job I love, something I look forward to every single day. I don’t want to lose that,” he said. “I love life. I love my kids, I love my family, I love what they do. To think those might be taken away from you ...”

But Jim Calhoun will summon all his strength to make sure that doesn’t happen.

“The thing I have on my side is that I’m willing to step up and fight it,” he added. “I’m not going to let this thing beat me.”

By David Borges
Register Staff
STORRS --- Jim Calhoun is in the midst of another bout with cancer.

Calhoun announced at a press conference today that he recently had a golf ball-sized cancerous mass removed from the right side of his neck, just underneath his jaw.
A fine needle aspiration biopsy of the mass had shown that the mass was squamous cell cancer, which Calhoun had had removed from his right cheek in 2007.

The mass was removed on May 6 by Jeffrey Spiro, M.D., at the UConn Health Center.

"To the best of my knowledge, Coach is cancer-free now," Spiro said.

However, Calhoun will undergo six weeks of Tomotherapy radiation treatments to his right neck as a precaution, beginning on June 24. The treatments are expected to cause some fatigue, particularly towards the end, and should affect Calhoun's summer schedule. But he has absolutely no plans on retiring as UConn's head men's basketball coach.

"I want to coach basketball at UConn," he said. "I look forward to coaching for an awful long time. I've had a little bit of a setback, but I will fight through this."

Calhoun, of course, had prostate cancer back in 2003 but missed only five games before returning to the sidelines. This cancer is completely unrelated to his prior bout with prostate cancer.

Calhoun said he started feeling "very tired" towards the end of this past season ("more so than normal") and, coincidentally, was suffering through an upper respiratory illness. He noticed a small lump in his neck that he thought was simply a boil. When the season was over and he went out to recruit, he became even more fatigued, and the mass and grown to the size of a marble.

About three weeks later, it was near the size of a golf ball, and Calhoun sought medical advice. At first, all doctors thought it was a cyst, a result of his upper respiratory infection, but Dr. Spiro's biopsy soon revealed otherwise.

Read much more in tomorrow's Register

UConn will hold a press conference today at 2 p.m. at Gampel for "an announcement involving head men's basketball coach Jim Calhoun." No further details, other than that it's being held at the Division of Athletics entrance, and that the presser will be webcast live at www.uconnhuskies.ocm.

Stay tuned ...

The Jim Calhoun Cancer Challenge Ride will be held on Sunday, June 8. The ride benefits The Carole and Ray Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Connecticut Health Center, as well as Coaches vs. Cancer. The event will include bike rides of 10, 25 and 50 miles, will start and finish in Simsbury and include a post-ride summer barbeque with a live band. Coach Calhoun is a cancer survivor and will participate in the 50-mile ride.

Over 500 riders are expected to ride with Calhoun this year, and hundreds of volunteers are expected to lend their support. To register for the ride as a single rider or as a team, or to donate to Calhoun’s ride, interested parties should visit the CIGNA-Jim Calhoun Cancer Challenge Ride website at http://www.calhounride.com .

There is a $30 fee to register as a rider and a minimum fundraising requirement of $200 per rider. All riders will receive a gift bag containing a ride shirt, a pair of Crocs and other items as a thank you for participation. There will also be activities for families as well as a post-ride summer barbeque with live music.