UConn Budget Crippled by Jim Calhoun, Six-OT Loss to Syracuse

The University of Connecticut is on the verge of financial collapse following the Huskies' six-overtime loss to Syracuse on Thursday in the Big East Conference basketball tournament.

UConn head coach Jim Calhoun filed a time sheet Friday afternoon that state officials say they simply do not have the funds to cover. An open records request showed that the head basketball coach punched the clock at 12:00 p.m. EST and proceeded to work well past 3:00 a.m., when final postgame obligations and interview requests were completed.

"Mr. Calhoun was scheduled to work an eight-hour day on Thursday and complete a standard, two-week pay period," state treasurer Denise L. Nappier told Bleacher Report. "Given our current economic conditions, Connecticut simply cannot afford to pay overtime, especially at his rate."

Calhoun recently made headlines when he angrily reacted to a financial question regarding whether or not a basketball coach at a state school should be making six figures.

The two-time National Championship winner is scheduled to earn $1.6 million this season. That breaks down to an hourly wage of $769. Assuming Calhoun's seven hours of overtime will be billed at time-and-a-half, the loss to Syracuse cost Connecticut more than $8,000 in additional payroll expenses, not to mention valuable Big East bragging rights.

UConn isn't the only state university slashing overtime costs. In the Big 12, Kansas and Oklahoma both took quarterfinal losses on Thursday in an attempt to keep coaching costs down. According to B/R sources, Kentucky's Billy Gillispie has yet to put in a full work week in fiscal year 2009.

Nappier also says that Connecticut will deny Calhoun's reimbursement request for an early-morning room service bill totalling $123.76.

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