Connecticut head basketball coach Jim Calhoun announced Friday during a press conference that he has been treated for skin cancer.
Calhoun said in the press conference that he had a cancerous growth removed from his neck May 6 and has been recovering from the surgery. He also announced that he is not stepping down as the coach for UConn despite his bout with cancer.
"I want to coach basketball at UConn. I'm hopefully not going anyplace," Calhoun said. "I'm looking forward to coaching an awful long time."
Calhoun will undergo six weeks of radiation treatment to ensure the cancer stays treated.
Calhoun discovered the growth through self-diagnosis and decided to get checked out. "I became more fatigued and the small mass that was there started to grow," Calhoun said. "It had grown to a size of a marble then the size of a golf ball."
The growth on Calhoun's neck, which was diagnosed as a squamous cell cancer, was removed along with a small portion of the adjacent parotid salivary gland and 37 additional lymph nodes from the lower neck.
"To the best of my knowledge, the coach is cancer-free now," said Dr. Jeffrey Sprio, who performed the procedure at the University of Connecticut Health Center.
His skin cancer is not related to his previous bout with prostate cancer, which was successfully treated.
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