Auriemma and Hatchell on cusp of 1,000 wins

NEW YORK » Geno Auriemma never imagined he would have a chance to win 1,000 games, let alone coach that many contests, when he first took over UConn 32 years ago.

He just, by his own admission, wanted to beat Providence and Villanova who ruled the Big East. Now he stands one victory away from reaching the 1,000-win mark.

Auriemma and his topranked Huskies will try for that milestone against Oklahoma on Tuesday night at the Mohegan Sun Arena.

“Believe me, where we’re sitting right now wasn’t part of the plan,” the Hall of Fame coach said. “By any stretch of the imagination.”

Earlier on Tuesday, North Carolina’s Sylvia Hatchell will also try and join the 1,000-win club when her team faces Grambling State. Only Pat Summitt and Tara VanDerveer have reached 1,000 victories in women’s basketball.

“I think back about all the great players I’ve had, the coaching tree. The main thing is how much fun I’ve had,” Hatchell said. “But, I’m not finished. I want more. I’m greedy, I guess you could say. I want more championships, I want more rings, all that stuff.”

Hatchell gained an extra appreciation for life after battling leukemia and being declared cancer-free in 2014. Her program has finally made it through a multi-year NCAA academic investigation that ultimately led to no violations against the school or her program.

“You think about the journey, the ups and downs, you think about the last few years. I’m tougher than ever, I really am,” Hatchell said.

“I’ve learned so much. You learn through the great times and the winning, but you really learn through the perseverance. I’m healthy as can be now. I’ve beat the worst kind of leukemia you can have. I went through the NCAA; the right thing happened and it worked out.”

It’s fitting that Hatchell has a chance to get No. 1,000 in South Carolina as the Tar Heels are playing their annual games at Myrtle Beach. She got her start at Francis Marion College, which is in South Carolina, in 1975. Hatchell coached there for 11 seasons and won two national titles. She went to North Carolina in 1986 and won a national championship in 1994.