Calhoun, who  will be formally introduced  on Wednesday, has agreed to a six-year contract, pending board of trustees approval. He will earn $3.7 million in the first year followed by annual raises of $100,000.

“It is a tremendous honor to have the opportunity to lead the Bearcats’ program — one that I know intimately as an alum and hold in the highest regard,” Calhoun said. “I am deeply grateful to John Cunningham and President Neville Pinto for their trust and confidence in me to elevate this program and guide our student-athletes as we pursue championships. Our goal is to build a program that consistently makes Bearcats fans proud, both on and off the court. Sarah, our children and I are excited to get to work at a place that means so much to our family.”

Calhoun — who  led Utah State  to the round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament — graduated from Cincinnati in 2004 and was a student assistant under Bob Huggins during the 2003-04 season. He also spent five seasons on Huggins’ staff at West Virginia from 2007-12, including when the Mountaineers went to the Final Four in 2010.

“He’s earned everything he’s gotten. Jerrod works, he connects with people and he knows how to build a program. I’ve enjoyed watching his growth over the years and I’m proud of what he’s accomplished. Cincinnati is getting a great coach,” Huggins said in a statement.

Calhoun has been a head coach for 14 seasons and has a 297-159 record. He was at Division II Fairmont State in West Virginia for five seasons before getting his first Division I job at Youngstown State. He directed the Penguins for seven years, including five straight winning seasons, the first time they had done that at the Division I level.

Calhoun then went to Utah State and went 55-15 in two seasons. The Aggies went 29-7 this season and won the Mountain West regular-season and tournament championships.

He will try to turn around a Bearcats’ program that is on its third coach since Mick Cronin left in 2019 for UCLA. Cincinnati has not made the NCAA Tournament since 2019, its longest drought since going 14 seasons from 1977-92.

Calhoun replaces Wes Miller, who went 100-74 in five seasons, including 18-15 this year. Miller was named the coach at Charlotte on Monday.

Calhoun is a Cleveland native and played two seasons at Cleveland State for Rollie Massimino.

Bennett leaves Saint Mary’s for Arizona State

TEMPE, Ariz. — Arizona State has lured Randy Bennett away from Saint Mary’s to become its next men’s basketball coach.

Arizona State and Saint Mary’s announced Bennett’s hiring following a team meeting with the Gaels on Monday.

“This was a difficult decision after calling Saint Mary’s home for so long and building this program into a national contender each year,” Bennett said in a statement.

“I will be forever grateful for the opportunity to lead Saint Mary’s and for all the special people in this community I’ve been able to work with over the years. This was truly my home away from home for so long and I will miss this place.”

Bennett spent 25 years as Saint Mary’s head coach, repeatedly turning down offers to coach at larger programs.

The chance to return home after the firing of Bobby Hurley was too much for the 63-year-old coach to turn down this time.

Bennett grew up in Mesa, Arizona, and graduated from Westwood High School on the west side of town, not far from Arizona State’s campus. He began his college career at Mesa Community College, playing two seasons under his father, Tom, before transferring to the University of San Diego.

Saint Mary’s promoted associate head coach Mickey McConnell to take Bennett’s place. McConnell is a former star player for the Gaels and will now have the task of keeping Saint Mary’s performing at a high level after spending the past seven seasons as an assistant on Bennett’s staff.

Syracuse hires former Orangeman McNamara

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Syracuse turned to its past by hiring former  star guard Gerry McNamara  on Tuesday in a bid to guide a fading men’s basketball program back to prominence.

The 42-year-old McNamara, nicknamed “G-Mac,” is returning to where he and Carmelo Anthony led the Orange to a national championship in 2003. McNamara then spent 14 years as an assistant under Hall of Fame coach Jim Boeheim and an additional season under his successor, Adrian Autry.

Now he replaces Autry,  who was fired after three largely disappointing seasons  in which the Orange went 49-48 and extended their NCAA Tournament drought to five seasons — the school’s longest since 1967-72.

“I love this place. I love what Syracuse means to the fans, to the players who have worn this jersey, to the people of central New York,” McNamara said in a statement released by the school, which plays in the Atlantic Coast Conference. “This program has given me everything, and I am ready to give everything back to it.”

McNamara returns to Syracuse after spending the past two seasons at Siena, where he went 37-30. That included a 23-12 finish this year in which the Saints won the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament and clinched their first NCAA berth since 2010.

The 16th-seeded Saints  then nearly knocked off Duke  in an eventual 71-65 first-round loss on Thursday.

Incoming athletic director Bryan Blair referred to McNamara’s hiring as “a critical moment for Syracuse basketball.”