In this Book
- Rebound!: The Incredible Story of UConn Basketball's Comeback from Defeat to Dominance
- Book
- 2015
- Published by: University Press of New England
summary
In September 2012, legendary University of Connecticut men’s basketball coach Jim Calhoun—who had won three national championships, the last in 2011—abruptly retired. His handpicked replacement was Kevin Ollie, a former UConn player and longtime NBA journeyman who had returned two years earlier to be Calhoun’s assistant. Ollie was widely praised as a “basketball savant” and respected by virtually everyone who knew him. But he had no head coaching experience—at any level—before taking the UConn job. He was also inheriting a mess. Due to past academic problems, UConn was barred from postseason play in 2013, and largely because of this, several top players left the program, either for the NBA draft or for other schools. On top of that were the uncertainties of a greatly changed conference, as well as difficulties on the recruiting trail. Despite it all, a dedicated core of players stayed and won twenty hard-fought games, even with no tournament chances to hope for.
The following season, expectations for the team were modest, and the odds of a championship were slim to none. But with the tournament ban lifted, a talented group of players, led by Shabazz Napier, emerged and went on to upset Michigan State to advance to the Final Four, causing millions of college hoops fans across the country to rip up their carefully constructed brackets. When they beat preseason no. 1 Kentucky, with its “Fab 5” NBA-bound starters and celebrity coach John Calipari, to win the 2014 title, theirs became one of the great comeback stories in all of sports, a rags-to-riches triumph for a storied program and its new head coach.
The following season, expectations for the team were modest, and the odds of a championship were slim to none. But with the tournament ban lifted, a talented group of players, led by Shabazz Napier, emerged and went on to upset Michigan State to advance to the Final Four, causing millions of college hoops fans across the country to rip up their carefully constructed brackets. When they beat preseason no. 1 Kentucky, with its “Fab 5” NBA-bound starters and celebrity coach John Calipari, to win the 2014 title, theirs became one of the great comeback stories in all of sports, a rags-to-riches triumph for a storied program and its new head coach.
Table of Contents
Download Full Book
- Author's Note and Acknowledgments
- pp. ix-xii
- Introduction
- pp. xiii-xv
- 2. A Program in Peril
- pp. 7-16
- 3. Playing for Pride
- pp. 17-23
- 4. An Emotional Win in Germany
- pp. 24-32
- 6. A New Mr. Clutch
- pp. 45-52
- 7. A New Season, A New League
- pp. 53-65
- 8. A Little "Luck" Against Florida
- pp. 66-74
- 9. A Treacherous Texas Two-Step
- pp. 75-86
- 10. Winning in Memphis
- pp. 87-98
- 11. The Good, the Bad of the AAC
- pp. 99-108
- 12. Another Lashing in Louisville
- pp. 109-118
- 13. Back to the Postseason
- pp. 119-128
- 14. A Freshman Saves the Season
- pp. 129-140
- 15. An Overdue Garden Party
- pp. 141-152
- 16. No Luck Needed This Time
- pp. 154-163
- 17. This is What Happens When You Ban Us
- pp. 164-174
- 18. The Aftermath
- pp. 175-189
Additional Information
ISBN
9781611687705
Related ISBN(s)
9781611687361
MARC Record
OCLC
903232811
Pages
232
Launched on MUSE
2015-02-11
Language
English
Open Access
No