CARR CREEK, Ky. – Jim Calhoun was a sophomore starter on the great 1956 State champion Carr Creek Indians team. They finished with a 33-3 mark and the big trophy. For the next two years Jim Calhoun remained a Carr Creek Indian as they would finish 25-8 in 1957 and 26-4 in 1958.

In 1957 Calhoun was selected as an All State 3rd Team member.. He also was selected to the All State 3rd Team as a senior at Carr Creek in 1958.

In the fall of 1958 he entered the University of Cincinnati to play on some of the great basketball teams of the day. After playing freshman ball he would join the great varsity team of 1959-60 coached by George Smith. They would finish the season at 28-2 and would finish 3rd in the NCAA Tournament. Calhoun was a teammate that season with the great Oscar Robertson.

As a junior at Cincinnati, Robertson was gone but the Bearcats were a determined group. Third place was not their goal. They won the Missouri Valley Conference once again and this year they had a new head coach, Ed Jucker. They would win the NCAA championship game played in Kansas City over a much ballyhooed Ohio State team. Calhoun was a 6ft. guard on this team.

As a senior at Cincinnati in the 1961-62 season, Calhoun and his Bearcats teammates again claimed the NCAA crown as they once again defeated Ohio State in the title game, this time played in Louisville.

What memories of basketball Jim Calhoun had. He shared many with his nephews, sons of his sister Jane. Jane was a member of that great 1956 Carr Creek team as a cheerleader. She had further ties to it as she married one of the great players, E.A.Couch.

There will be more coverage of memories of Jim and others of the great 1956 Carr Creek team soon, as Mountain Sports Hall of Fame will be doing an interview with Jane Calhoun Couch and her son David in the coming weeks. You can watch for that on Mountain Sports Hall of Fame’s Facebook page and here at Mountain Top Sports and our Facebook page.