Jim Calhoun To Take Indefinine Medical Leave Of Absence From Connecticut Basketball, According To Report

Connecticut Huskies men's basketball head coach Jim Calhoun will take an indefinite medical leave of absence due to a worsening bout with spinal stenosis, a back condition known to cause severe pain, numbness and difficulty walking. The leave is effective immediately, and Calhoun will not coach Saturday against Seton Hall.

Calhoun's UConn Huskies recently dropped out of the top 25 and have lost four straight games, three of them inside the Big East Conference. He tried changing the starting lineup to revive his struggling team, inserting Ryan Boatright and Roscoe Smith in favor of Shabazz Napier and Alex Oriakhi prior to UConn's most recent game against Georgetown, but the Huskies' scoring woes continued.

Now, rather than trying to figure out ways for UConn to score baskets more frequently, Calhoun will begin a rehabilitation process to deal with his back condition. Spinal stenosis is the narrowing of the spinal column, which normally occurs as a person ages and his spinal disks start to shrink. It's the same condition that Marquis Daniels had surgery to correct before returning to the NBA this season.

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