STORRS, Conn. — To put it in the simplest terms, there is no Geno Auriemma without Chris Dailey.
Since the summer of 1985, Auriemma, the UConn women’s basketball head coach, has leaned on his assistant, Dailey, through good times and bad. Together, Auriemma and Dailey built a dynasty that may never be replicated in collegiate or professional sports.
When the two coaches arrived in Storrs four decades ago, UConn’s facilities were poor, and the tradition of the women’s basketball program was even worse. Since then, Auriemma and Dailey have collaborated to create a powerhouse and establish a brand of basketball that is recognized across the world.
This season will be the pair’s 40th roaming the UConn sidelines together.
According to the UConn Division of Athletics, since Auriemma and Dailey partnered in 1985, the program has won 11 NCAA Championships, competed in 23 NCAA Final Fours, completed six perfect seasons and won 59 regular season and conference tournament titles.
Throughout the upcoming season, UConn Athletics will celebrate and honor the pair’s legacies and significant milestones with several initiatives. The primary celebration will occur in Gampel Pavilion during UConn’s game against Fairleigh Dickinson on Wednesday, Nov. 20.
UConn Athletics says that additional promotions, giveaways and announcements will also be released during the season.
It’s been a long time since Auriemma and Dailey inherited a program that only one winning season to its name. And they’ve taken a long road to establish UConn as the sport’s ultimate model of success.
When it comes to consistency, Auriemma and Dailey have redefined the gold standard of excellence. According to UConn Athletics, the Huskies have competed in every NCAA Tournament since 1989, the season UConn won its first Big East regular season and tournament titles.
Auriemma was inducted into both the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006. It shouldn’t be long until he is Division I college basketball’s career wins leader, as he needs just four more to reach 1,217 and surpass recently retired Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer’s record.
Dailey earned her spot in the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2018, becoming one of the first assistant coaches to earn the honor.
While the season is a month-and-a-half away, excitement is already brewing in Connecticut, as Auriemma and Dailey bring together a team that is expected to compete for a national title and feature possibly the best player in the college sport in guard Paige Bueckers.
UConn Athletics says season tickets for the 2024-2025 season are already on sale. Last season, the Huskies posted their highest average attendance since 2005-2006 with eight sold-out games. Fewer than 600 season tickets remain for Gampel Pavilion, as of Wednesday.
According to UConn Athletics, season tickets are the only way to access every home game, including the Nov. 20 celebration and UConn's highly-anticipated matchup vs. Southern California on Dec. 21 in the XL Center.
For more information, click here or call 877-288-2666.
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Dalton Zbierski is a digital content producer and writer at FOX61 News. He can be reached at dzbierski@FOX61.com.
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