Calhoun battles skin cancer

UConn coach treated for second time

Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun announces he is being treated for a second bout of skin cancer. Calhoun spoke to the media Friday in Storrs, Conn.

? Connecticut basketball coach Jim Calhoun is being treated for a second bout of skin cancer but expects to be on the bench this fall for his 22nd season with the Huskies.

“I want to coach basketball at UConn,” the 66-year-old Hall of Famer said Friday. “At this moment, I love what I do and feel very, very comfortable in doing that.”

His physician, Dr. Jeffrey Spiro, attended the news conference with Calhoun and said he believes the coach is now cancer-free and has a good prognosis.

Calhoun is to undergo six weeks of radiation treatments next month at the UConn Health Center to minimize any chance of the cancer returning. His doctors told him there will be short-term side effects from the radiation, but they expect Calhoun to return to his normal lifestyle, including coaching.

Calhoun said doctors determined last month that a lump in the upper right side of his neck near the jaw line was squamous cell cancer. He had surgery May 6 to remove the lump, several surrounding lymph nodes and part of his salivary gland.