St Joseph's Basketball

Hall of Famer Jim Calhoun, currently serving as the head coach of the Saint Joseph's men's basketball team, responded Saturday to accusations of "sexual discrimination and creating a hostile work environment" in the lawsuit filed against the university by former associate athletic director Jaclyn Piscitelli.

His statement read, in part:

"I was stunned and saddened to read the inflated and misleading headlines and the accusations directed at me this past Wednesday...by an ex-USJ employee and an all-too-eager click-driven media.

"I am angry and hurt that the reputation that I've worked so hard to achieve for over 50 years—actually, for more than 77 years—was so easily dismissed and thrown aside in return for headlines or eyeballs or whatever the appropriate term is here. And I'm especially angry that my career and my name are being used for legal grandstanding instead of in support for the victims of discrimination."

In the lawsuit, Piscitelli—who was fired by the university in June—accused Calhoun and top assistant Glen Miller of several incidents of treating her in a demeaning manner, per Dom Amore of the Hartford Courant.

Among her accusations:

"Calhoun, according to the 13-page complaint, asked Piscitelli to open his office door despite his keys being in his hand and, in another incident, knocked over a number of single-serve coffee 'K-cups' onto the floor and stepped on them, making Piscitelli clean up. She claimed Calhoun stated that if he made such a mess at home, his wife would clean up after him.

"The suit alleged Miller, who has not commented, told Piscitelli she should 'smile more and be more cheerful,' and said he would 'swipe left,' a reference to rejecting a person on the dating website Tinder. She also claims that Calhoun referred to her as 'hot.'"

In his statement responding to the accusations, Calhoun said he "firmly and unequivocally, at no time, knowingly treated any woman unfairly because of her gender. In addition, let me be clear, I have never treated any woman inappropriately."

He added that he wasn't "sure when asking a colleague if they would mind opening the door because my hands were full became discrimination or when self-deprecation for being an aging, clumsy husband became an insult."

He also said he would only use the word "hot" in reference to "the weather and the temperature of my morning coffee," adding that "the only woman I openly compliment is my wife of 53 years."

Calhoun, 77, served as the men's head coach at Saint Joseph in the 2018-19 season after the university shifted away from being a women-only school. He previously spent 14 seasons as the men's head coach at Northeastern and 26 seasons as the men's head coach at UConn, leading his teams to 23 NCAA tournament appearances.

He also won three national titles with UConn and was elected to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2005.