The next high-major hiring is off the board, as Cincinnati has tapped Jerrod Calhoun to lead the program, the school announced on Tuesday. CBS Sports previously reported the news of Calhoun’s impending hire on Monday. Calhoun’s annualy salary with begin at $3.7 million in the first year with annual raises of $100,000. 

Calhoun is a UC alum and fresh off back-to-back NCAA Tournament runs with the Utah State Aggies. Ninth-seeded USU fell Sunday night in San Diego to top-seeded Arizona, 78-66, capping off a 29-7 season that included a double sweep of the Mountain West. It’s a six-year contract with the Bearcats, a source added.

Calhoun went 55-15 in two seasons at Utah State, becoming the latest coach at that program to use it as a springboard to a power-conference job. Danny Sprinkle (Washington), Ryan Odom (VCU) and Craig Smith (Utah) all made similar moves out of Logan, Utah, in the past five years.

“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 in a statement. “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 was Cincinnati’s obvious and top target as soon as it fired Wes Miller almost two weeks ago. Cincinnati was likely to open if it didn’t make the NCAA Tournament this year, so when Miller was fired, Calhoun’s track back to the Queen City was the only route he was going to take. This endgame was reinforced when Calhoun didn’t aggressively engage with Kansas State earlier this month after the school put him atop its list to replace Jerome Tang.

Calhoun’s camp communicated with Cincinnati athletic director John Cunningham in the past week that he was ready to make the move and head back to Ohio, per a source. The sides kept it as quiet as possible out of respect for Utah State’s NCAA Tournament run. This isn’t unusual, and in fact has become more and more common in college basketball. A similar arrangement was made a year ago when Ryan Odom agreed to be the next coach at Virginia while coaching at VCU. Scott Cross did the same thing this cycle, coaching Troy to the NCAA Tournament while covertly telling Georgia Tech he was coming once the Trojans’ season was done.

The 44-year-old Calhoun has ties to former Cincinnati coach Bob Huggins; Calhoun was a student when Huggins coached at UC, then worked under him at West Virginia from 2007-12. Calhoun’s career record is 297-159, accounting for his time in D-II with Fairmount State (2012-17) and his sturdy tenure at Youngstown State (2017-24). 

Cincinnati expects to get its NIL pool north of $8 million for the upcoming season, according to a source. The program hasn’t made the NCAA Tournament since 2019, which was Mick Cronin’s final season before taking the UCLA job.Â