Coach has a day to study Auriemma
Connecticut legend welcomes exchange of ideas with visitors
Watching one of the first days of Connecticut women’s basketball practice, former Georgia men’s basketball coach Mark Fox couldn’t help but be transported back to the 1970s.
More specifically, he was taken back to a commercial that aired where two men in suits are talking when one says, “My broker is E.F. Hutton, and E.F. Hutton says …” At the mere mention of Hutton’s name, the room is immediately silenced and 15 people scoot in closer to listen. “When E.F. Hutton talks, people listen.”
In Fox’s mind, Geno Auriemma is E.F. Hutton.
“When he speaks, he commands everyone’s attention in the gym,” Fox said. “There’s no excess noise. The level of respect that he commands from his team is certainly warranted, but it’s attention getting when you witness it.”
The respect Auriemma emanates was one of Fox’s main takeaways from the day he spent with the 11-time national champion. Auriemma playing host to Fox comes as no surprise as coaches have long been attending one another’s practices, trading tips and mulling over new ideas. The Connecticut coach welcomes those days, eager to continue learning, and coaches continue to want a glimpse inside the mind of one of the most successful basketball coaches in the country.
“The minute you’re not [coaching], you want to go see how other people do things because there’s a constant feeling of ‘I want to know more than I know,’ at least by the good coaches, anyways,” Auriemma said. “That’s what the good coaches do. They pick up stuff from other coaches, and over the years — that’s what I’ve done from across the way — and that’s the world. If you’re not learning all the time, you’re standing still.”
Fox, with whom Georgia parted ways in March, wanted to make his way to Storrs for a while, so when Auriemma extended the invitation this summer, he jumped at the chance to add Connecticut to his list of stops. The summer was a chance for Fox to see if others were doing the same things he was and to gain insight into the culture of other teams. How are coaches treating rookies? How are they treating veterans? What’s the communication between the coaches and players like?
When he made it to Connecticut after some time in San Antonio with Gregg Popovich and before a trip to Boston to watch Brad Stevens, Fox was impressed with what he saw. Auriemma clearly had taught his veterans well when they were underclassmen, Fox thought, as he watched them lead by example and assist younger players.
“I would think that he sets the stage with every young player in a way that allows them to have an attitude the rest of their career that promotes growth and development,” Fox said. “I think he’s very intentional on how he treats his younger players so they’ll develop the mentality for the next three or four years of how hard you have to work, how hard you have to play and how much you need to improve and grow.
“His veterans are unbelievable examples to his younger players, and he doesn’t have to spend time with his veterans on the little things that correlate to becoming great. He can spend that time with his younger players. I think there’s no question that the energy levels and examples set by his older players is very evident.”
When Auriemma invites coaches to his practices, it isn’t with the thought that others will benefit from his style of teaching, but with the desire to share information and get another point of view that could offer new ideas. He realizes that the relationship should be symbiotic — a give and take. Auriemma invited Fox with that in mind, noting that he was a talented coach who had done similar things at Georgia.
“He does a lot of things conceptually that I like,” Auriemma said. “It’s interesting to get an outsider’s point of view, when they see things [you don’t]. I like that when someone who doesn’t see your team on a regular basis gets to see. He had a stat sheet with him. He had little bios on all of our players when he showed up, and he knew who was who, and that was really cool. I love that stuff.”
The day spent together was a success for both. Auriemma got a fresh perspective and a reunion with a friend, and Fox got a look at a legend’s coaching style and veal Parmesan straight from Auriemma’s kitchen. The two became close while working with USA basketball, and now Fox says that if he ever writes a book, Auriemma will have a chapter in it.
Looking back on the day he spent in Storrs, Fox reminisced about his relationship with the late Fred “Tex” Winter and the similarities he sees between Winter and Auriemma in the way they welcome others to share in their knowledge.
“I would always say that Tex was very generous with his genius. He was so helpful to me, and I would say the same about Geno,” Fox said. “He was very generous with his genius and his knowledge and very willing to help other coaches, which certainly always have a great appreciation for him.”
“When he speaks, he commands everyone’s attention in the gym. There’s no excess noise. The level of respect that he commands from his team is certainly warranted, but it’s attention getting when you witness it.”
— Mark Fox, former Georgia men’s coach