Jim Calhoun went the extra mile to make sure Ben Gordon joined the rest of his 2004 national championship team as it was inducted into UConn’s Huskies of Honor during its 20th anniversary season last year. Calhoun said he called the former Huskies’ star five times in the week leading up to the event, which took place before the eventual back-to-back national champions blew the doors off Xavier, just to make sure he would get there.
Life hasn’t been easy for Gordon, who’s had battles with mental health since his 11-year NBA career ended in 2015, but he got back to Connecticut and ensured reporters that he was “in a good place.” Gordon was “smiling the whole time” when he went to breakfast with Calhoun prior to the event.
“It was so good to see, because he was back with his family,” Calhoun said.
Gordon will be back in Connecticut, “with his family,” on February 7 to be inducted personally into the Huskies of Honor – a recognition years in the making.
For a special day, Ben Gordon finds his way back to his UConn basketball family
This time the 2004 Big East Tournament MVP will return to Storrs and be honored as UConn hosts Rick Pitino’s revitalized St. John’s program in an 8 p.m. tip-off at Gampel Pavilion.
Gordon more than meets the criteria for the Huskies of Honor, which most recently saw two-time national champion guard Tristen Newton inducted immediately upon the team’s return from the 2024 Final Four in Arizona. Emeka Okafor, Gordon’s co-star on that 2004 title team, was inducted in 2007.
Taliek Brown, another member of that ’04 team, is expected to be in attendance as an assistant coach for the Johnnies.
Gordon accumulated 1,795 points, 437 assists and 415 rebounds over three years in Storrs. He was named All-Big East Second Team as a sophomore, when he averaged 19.5 points, 4.7 assists and 4.2 rebounds per game, and First Team as a junior, remaining consistent with 18.5 points, 4.5 assists and 4.7 rebounds per game. Gordon shot 44% from the field over his career and 42.3% from beyond the arc.
Ben Gordon with the 2004 national championship trophy after UConn's win pic.twitter.com/Bg4b7X3A5O
— Gavin Keefe (@GavinKeefe) January 28, 2024
Opting to enter the 2004 NBA Draft following the championship, Gordon was selected with the third overall pick by the Chicago Bulls, right after Okafor was taken second overall by the Charlotte Bobcats.
Averaging 15.9 points, 2.0 assists and 2.6 rebounds his rookie season, Gordon finished second in Rookie of the Year voting – to none other than Okafor – and was named the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year. He played five strong years in Chicago, three with the Detroit Pistons and two with Charlotte before spending his final NBA season as a member of the Orlando Magic.
He wrote about his mental health challenges that came after that final season in an essay for The Players’ Tribune in 2020 and has dealt with some legal trouble since. But he was in a good place when he came back to Connecticut in 2024 and had “some awesome things to say,” coach Dan Hurley said, in the team’s locker room following that romping of Xavier.
“Ben’s a special guy. It’s hard to put into words, but I think him not being him all the time, it’s very burdensome. It’s been devastating, he’s one of the best guys I’ve ever had, he’s like a son to me in so many ways,” Calhoun said on that day. “I just wanted him to know, ‘if you’re looking for love, it’s here. People here love you.'”
