STORRS, Conn. — Geno Auriemma, head coach of the UConn women’s basketball program, advanced to his 23rd Final Four after the Huskies defeated Southern California 80-73 late Monday evening.
Auriemma, a 2006 inductee to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, has won 11 national championships. Entering Friday night’s game vs. Iowa, Auriemma has secured 1,213 victories during his illustrious career.
“Geno”, as he’s known throughout the country, has made coaching the sport of basketball look easy for decades, but his humble beginnings prove that wasn’t always the case.
Early life and coaching career
Born on March 23, 1954, in Montella, Italy, Auriemma emigrated to the United States and settled in Norristown, Penn. when he was seven years old. As a child, he taught himself how to speak English, according to his 2006 book “Geno: In Pursuit of Perfection.”
Auriemma graduated from West Chester University of Pennsylvania in 1977 and remained in the state, coaching at Bishop McDevitt High School in Wyncote, Penn. before becoming an assistant coach at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia from 1978 to 1979.
After coaching boys’ basketball at his alma mater, Bishop Kenrick High School, until 1981, Auriemma received a job offer to be an assistant coach for the women’s basketball team at the University of Virginia, where he oversaw recruiting, according to his biography.
By his third season at Virginia, Auriemma had recruited six high school All-Americans, and the team won the Atlantic Coast Conference, rising to as high as No. 10 in the nation in the process of earning a NCAA Tournament bid. In 1985, after four seasons at Virginia, Auriemma made a career move that forever changed women’s basketball, as he accepted the position of head coach at the University of Connecticut.
Early years at UConn (1985 – 1991)
Auriemma accepted the position of head coach at UConn without ever seeing the campus, his biography states. When he arrived in Storrs, he discovered the team had no locker rooms and the ceilings in the practice facility were so leaky that rain made practice impossible.
One candidate who interviewed for the head coaching position, Chris Dailey, became Auriemma’s assistant and to this day still serves as his associate head coach.
Prior to Auriemma’s arrival at UConn, the program had one winning season in its history. In the time since he began there, the program has only had one losing season – his first year in Storrs. It didn’t take Auriemma long to turn the program around, as the team made its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 1989.
It was the 1991 team, however, that put Connecticut women’s basketball on the map. As a three seed in the NCAA Tournament, the Huskies went on a remarkable run. Behind All-American Kerry Bascom, UConn beat heavily favored North Carolina State and Clemson en route to the program’s first ever Final Four.
Building a national champion (1992-1999)
Auriemma quickly put his recruiting skills to work in Storrs, as he landed future Naismith and AP Player of the Year Rebecca Lobo in 1991 from nearby Southwick, Mass. While the Huskies lost early in the NCAA Tournament in her first two seasons, Auriemma continued to recruit at a high level.
He brought star players to Storrs such as Jamelle Elliott, Jenn Rizzotti, Pam Webber, Kara Wolters and Carla Berube. In 1994, UConn won a record 30 games and advanced to the Elite Eight, losing to eventual champion North Carolina.
The 1994-1995 period changed everything for UConn basketball. With every major player returning from the previous season, the Huskies added their highest ranked recruit to date in Nykesha Sales. UConn started the season with an 80-point win over Morgan State and refused to lose.
On Martin Luther King Day, UConn met Tennessee for the first time in Gampel Pavilion. The undefeated Huskies won again and moved up to No. 1 in the polls for the first time in team history. A rivalry between Auriemma and Tennessee Hall of Fame Head Coach Pat Summitt was born.
UConn rolled through the NCAA Tournament and advanced to the program’s second Final Four in Minneapolis. After defeating Stanford, the Huskies earned a rematch with Tennessee. In one of the sport’s greatest games, UConn rallied from a nine-point deficit and pulled out a 70-64 victory, capping a 35-0 undefeated season. More than 100,000 people flocked to Hartford for the victory parade days later.
Following the undefeated season, UConn continued to compete on a high level behind stars such as Shea Ralph and Svetlana Abrosimova, but the Huskies struggled to get past Tennessee. The Lady Vols eliminated UConn in 1996 and 1997, and the 1998 season ended with a loss to NC State. In 1999, UConn was upset by Iowa State, but the team’s star lineup of freshman, including Swin Cash, Tamika Williams, Sue Bird, Asjha Jones and Keirsten Walters, would do major damage in the following years.
A dynasty is born (2000 – 2008)
UConn returned in 1999-2000 with a vengeance. Led by a balance of underclassmen and upperclassmen, UConn finished the regular season with a 27-1 record. UConn advanced to its first Final Four since 1996, defeating Penn State in the semifinals. Tennessee awaited in the championship game in Auriemma’s hometown of Philadelphia, and the Huskies answered. UConn defeated the Lady Vols 71-52 for its second national championship, finishing the season at 36-1.
The following season, an all-time great entered the campus as Diana Taurasi traveled from California to Storrs to put on the uniform. Taurasi, the National Player of the Year as a high school senior, was poised for another run, but injuries limited them late in the season. Taurasi led UConn to the Final Four, where the Huskies blew a 16-point lead and lost to Notre Dame in the national semifinal.
The 2001-2002 Huskies came back on a mission. Led by Bird and Taurasi, UConn could not be beaten. In the Final Four, UConn defeated Tennessee by 23 points and beat Oklahoma 82-70 to win the national championship, completing a perfect 39-0 season.
The next season, UConn picked up where it left off, although it became distinctly Taurasi’s team. With no seniors on the roster, UConn established a 70-game winning streak before losing in the Big East Tournament Championship to Villanova in a memorable upset. That would be the Huskies’ last loss of the year. They advanced to the Final Four again, and behind Taurasi’s 28 points, defeated Tennessee in the national championship game.
The 2003-2004 team looked to “three-peat” during Taurasi’s last season. Despite numerous losses during the regular season and another in the Big East Tournament, UConn earned a number two seed and went on another run. The Huskies advanced to New Orleans, where they again beat Tennessee in the national championship. Taurasi was a two-time Naismith College Player of the Year, and a dynasty had been born.
Auriemma had his work cut out for him in the years that followed, as UConn struggled, losing in the Sweet 16 to Standford in 2005 and the Elite 8 to Duke in 2006. After another Elite 8 loss to LSU in 2007, the Huskies advanced to the Final Four in 2008 behind phenom freshman Maya Moore but lost in the national semifinal to Stanford.
The greatest program of all-time (2009 – 2016)
Entering the 2008-2009 season, Auriemma appeared to have landed the top ranked high school recruit for a third consecutive season in Elena Delle Donne, but she shocked many when she requested a release from her scholarship to return home to Delaware to be closer to her family.
That didn’t stop the Huskies on the court. After a string of disappointing years, All-Americans Maya Moore, Rennee Montgomery, and Tina Charles led the team to a perfect regular season at 30-0. They returned to the Final Four, taking revenge on Stanford in the national championship game, with an 83-64 victory. UConn finished 39-0 and won its sixth national title.
UConn finished the regular season undefeated again in 2010, winning each game by an average of 35.9 points per game. UConn continued its domination in the NCAA Tournament. The Huskies’ closest game of the tournament was the national championship, a 53-47 victory over Stanford again. UConn finished 39-0 in back-to-back seasons, winning the program’s seventh national championship.
The 2010-2011 season began with the Huskies establishing a 90-game winning streak, which they lost on Dec. 30, 2009, at Stanford, the program’s first loss since April 6, 2008, also to Stanford. Led by Maya Moore, the Huskies were favored to beat Notre Dame for the fourth time on the season in the Final Four but couldn’t prevail, despite Moore’s 36 points. As one of Auriemma’s greatest recruits, Moore won two Naismith College Player of the Year awards and two national titles during her time in Storrs.
After losing Moore, the 2012 team was no longer a title favorite, and the Huskies lost to Notre Dame in the Final Four. Auriemma was at a turning point, as it was unclear what direction the program would go. Little did critics know, the greatest Husky of all-time was en route to Storrs.
Breanna Stewart debuted for the Huskies in 2012-2013 and was immediately a sensation. She was joined in a freshman class that featured future All-Americans Moriah Jefferson and Morgan Tuck. It can be argued that this was Geno’s finest recruiting work, covering the entirety of his career.
In 2013, UConn lost to Notre Dame three times, and many didn’t expect much in the tournament. But on the back of Stewart, UConn defeated Notre Dame 93-60 in the Final Four and routed Louisville in the championship game two nights later, securing Auriemma’s eighth championship.
The 2013-2014 Huskies were favored from the onset and beat every team on the schedule by at least 10 points. In the NCAA title game, they played unbeaten Notre Dame and won 79-58, finishing the season 40-0, as Auriemma won his ninth title.
In the second game of the 2014-2015 season, UConn lost to Stanford, ending a 47-game winning streak, but the Huskies would not lose again. Auriemma won his record setting 10th NCAA title when UConn defeated Notre Dame in the final, 63-53.
As Stewart, Jefferson and Tuck entered their senior years, Auriemma recruited a new star in Katie Lou Samuelson to play beside sophomore Kia Nurse. At 38-0, the team beat each opponent by an average of 39.7 points and defeated Syracuse 82-51 in the NCAA title game, as Auriemma became the first college coach to win 11 titles, passing UCLA great John Wooden. Speaking of greatness, Stewart won their third Naismith College Player of the Year award that season.
The 2016 national title was Auriemma’s last to date.
Where the program stands today (2017-2024)
Following the 2016 championship, UConn was again favored to win it all in multiple seasons, but a string of disappointing finishes began. UConn entered the 2017 NCAA tournament unbeaten but was upset on a buzzer beater by Mississippi State.
On Dec. 19, 2017, Auriemma earned his 1,000th career victory, making him the fastest women’s college basketball coach to reach the mark. Later in the season, in 2018, UConn reached the Final Four with a perfect record again but was upset by Notre Dame on another last second shot.
In 2019, UConn finished the season at 35-3 but again lost in the Final Four to Notre Dame. The 2020 postseason was canceled by the COVID-19 pandemic, but entering the 2020-2021 season, UConn’s latest phenom, Paige Bueckers, arrived in Storrs.
Bueckers would win Naismith Player of the Year in her freshman season, but the 2021 Huskies were again upset in the Final Four, this time by Arizona. Bueckers battled injuries to return to for the 2022 NCAA Tournament, but UConn was overwhelmed in the National Championship game by South Carolina after an impressive run through the tournament.
UConn had made 14 consecutive Final Fours.
The 2023 Huskies were the first UConn women’s team since 2007 not to make the Final Four, as Bueckers missed the entire season with knee injuries. UConn was upset in the Sweet 16 by Ohio State.
On Feb. 7, 2024, Auriemma earned his 1,200th win as UConn routed Seton Hall. Bueckers would lead the Huskies back to the Final Four, scoring 28 points to defeat Southern California on April 1, 2024.
RELATED: Caitlin Clark scores 41 points, Iowa knocks defending champion LSU out of women's NCAA Tournament
Auriemma will look to build on his legacy on the court when his Huskies face Caitlin Clark and Iowa on Friday night at 9:30 p.m.
Personal life
While attending Montgomery County Junior College in Pennsylvania, Auriemma met his wife Kathy, according to his book. Kathy was a cheerleader from Philadelphia attending the school, and Geno was there playing college basketball. The two married in 1978. Kathy later became an English teacher at the University of Connecticut.
Kathy and Geno have three children together, including daughters Alyssa and Jenna and a son named Michael.
Auriemma also coached the gold medal-winning Team U.S.A. Women’s Basketball Team at the 2012 Olympics in London and the 2016 Olympics in Brazil amongst other accomplishments leading the national team.
Dalton Zbierski is a digital content producer at FOX61 News. He can be reached at dzbierski@FOX61.com.
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