The Dailey show
Associate head coach taking the reins in Auriemma’s absence
Head coach Geno Auriemma may be the cornerstone of the winningest program in women’s basketball, but few understand the principles behind that success better than his longtime counterpart, Chris Dailey.
“Her and (Auriemma) have been coaching together since before time,” junior guard Evina Westbrook said.
Well, 36 years to be exact. As the Huskies begin their march for a record 12th national title, it’s Dailey, UConn’s associate head coach and a deeply respected basketball mind, who will take the reins in Auriemma’s absence, following a positive COVID-19 test.
“We have all our trust in her,” Westbrook said. “Whatever she calls, whatever she draws up, whatever it may be, we’re going to go out there, we’re going to do it.”
Dailey, a Women’s Basketball Hall of Famer, has stepped in for Auriemma on five different occasions since arriving together at UConn in 1985 and is 10-0 in his absence. In 1989, Dailey guided the Huskies to their first Big East Tournament title while Auriemma served a suspension for a scheduling error. Eight years later, she directed them to another conference tournament championship when Auriemma returned to Pennsylvania following the death of his father, Donato.
Most recently, Dailey led the Huskies to a victory over Oklahoma last season when Auriemma was out after surgery to treat diverticulitis.
“CD is undefeated in tournament play,” Auriemma said. “So I don’t think you can get a coach that has a better record in the tournament than she does.”
This time, Auriemma, 66, will miss the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament, beginning with Sunday’s 1-vs.-16 matchup with High Point in San Antonio. Auriemma plans to isolate for 10 days, meaning he won’t be allowed to rejoin the team until March 24.
Dailey won’t be alone, though. The Huskies have two other assistants — both former players under Auriemma and Dailey — with national championship pedigrees in Shea Ralph and Jamelle Elliott.
“Our coaching staff, we work pretty well as a group,” Auriemma said. “We talk every day. We’ll talk every day before we set up whatever practice situations we can do. I have complete confidence and trust and faith in Shea, CD and Jamelle.”
How much will change when he’s gone? Practices will be noticeably different, but besides that?
“I don’t think it really changes,” junior center Olivia Nelson-Ododa said. “CD’s coaching style, any other time where Coach has
been out, she’s been in and it’s been the same. We’re excited to be coached under her. It’s not really much of a change. We all know our expectations, we all know things that we need to do, and she’s just there to keep reinforcing that and just to keep us going.”
There’s a subtle difference, players say, in the way they conduct practice. Both are sticklers for detail, though Dailey is known to be more meticulous, more regimented than Auriemma, while commanding just as much respect.
“CD is more of a stickto-the-schedule type of coach,” freshman guard Paige Bueckers said. “She has the practice plan and she wants to go through it. She wants the timestamps and everything to be in order. Coach, he’ll go off on a tangent for an hour, two hours on a practice plan. He’ll go over it until we get it right. …
“Coach, he says, ‘Screw the practice plan’ a whole lot. CD, I don’t think she’d ever do that.”
And it’s been that way for a while.
“She’s always been very much a stickler for time,” said Boston University head coach Marisa Moseley, who was an assistant at UConn from 2009-17. “She’s just going to make sure we start at a certain time and the drills go for a certain time. Coach is more fluid. Time means nothing to him.
“When you work together that many years with Coach, you probably have some tendencies that are similar, but also your personality traits tend to come through.”
Thus, practices tend to be more efficient, but harder when Dailey’s in charge.
“She likes to get in and get out,” junior guard Christyn Williams said. “We do a lot more running when she’s holding practice. Coach takes his time and likes to get everything right. We go until he says stop. That’s not necessarily the case with CD.”
Auriemma’s absence comes at an inopportune time for the top-ranked Huskies (24-1), who are entering their most pivotal stretch of the season. The team is hitting its stride, having won 14 straight games, including a Big East Tournament title.
But Dailey, who is as much a part of the fabric of the program as Auriemma, is more than capable of running the show for the time being.
“She’s hard, if not harder, than Coach is on us in practice,” Westbrook said. “Like I said, we trust her; she’s always been there for us. I think she’s excited, we’re excited.
“At the end of the day, we just have to get it done, whether or not Coach is there. We’re lucky enough that he has a crazy amazing staff behind him that knows everything. They’ve obviously been through everything with us. It’s going to be fun.”