Honoring Auriemma:
More than 1,100 wins and counting, we reflect on the indelible achievements of Connecticut’s women’s basketball coach.
For all of Connecticut women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma’s on-court achievements, it was his address at Kobe Bryant’s memorial nearly a year ago that perhaps best exemplified his view on life.
“I tried to write a long, flowing speech about basketball, and I can’t do it,” Auriemma said. “There’s too many thoughts in my head ever since Vanessa asked me to speak, too many things that made me realize that I’m here as a father, not as a basketball coach.”
He continued that his thoughts kept going back to Bryant’s true team, his family.
“Because we’re always teammates, you know, we’re always on a team. Sometimes it’s a big team, sometimes it’s a small team.”
He concluded with a final word to Vanessa: “In this room is an incredible amount of talent. In this room is maybe the greatest collection of talent that I’ve ever been around. But in this room there’s a family. And there’s still a team back home. And they still have a great coach. And I’m going to be rooting for that team.”
Auriemma has assembled some pretty great teams himself. You don’t win 1,101 games as a coach without talented players.
But teamwork means many things, and the achievements of his former players on and off the court testify to that.
But for now, as he overtakes the late Pat Summitt, his longtime rival at Tennessee, for second place on the all-time career victories list, we’ll focus on his most notable on-court accomplishments.
Here’s a ranking of the most impressive:
11 national championships
Hanging those banners is the most indelible mark of coaching success, and no one in the collegiate basketball ranks – men’s or women’s – has won more titles than Auriemma. The first came in 1995 with a win against Summitt’s Lady Vols in the championship game, and the most recent were a string of four in a row from 2013 to 2016.
1,101 wins
For now, Stanford’s Tara VanDerveer is still ahead of him, but the career wins record might eventually be Auriemma’s alone. As the fastest to reach the 700-, 800-, 900- and 1,000-win milestones, at 66 he doesn’t appear to be slowing down.
111-game winning streak
The incredible run of victories that began in 2014 and didn’t end until the 2017 Final Four will likely never be matched. The streak broke the record of 90, also established by the Huskies from 2008 to 2011.
No AAC losses in 8 years
The other members of the American Athletic Conference were undoubtedly delighted UConn rejoined the Big East at the start of this season. During the Huskies’ eight seasons in the league, the UConn women didn’t lose an AAC game.
Six undefeated seasons
Running the table in college basketball is difficult no matter the level. Auriemma’s Huskies have done it six times, including in the 2009, 2010 and 2016 title runs that were part of the aforementioned winning streaks.
12 consecutive Final Fours
Earning a high seed every year certainly helps, but UConn will again break its record should it reach the upcoming Final Four for the 13th NCAA Tournament in a row. The only thing that caused a temporary interruption in the run was the coronavirus pandemic-caused cancellation of the 2020 NCAA edition.
National player of the years
In all, one of Auriemma’s Huskies has been voted player of the year 13 times, most recently Breanna Stewart’s three consecutive Naismith POY selections from 2014 to 2016.
One losing season
Auriemma took over in Storrs, Connecticut, before the 1985-86 season after a stint on Debbie Ryan’s staff at Virginia. The Huskies went 12-15 that seASON, and it was his only sub-.500 finish. By 1991, he’d have Connecticut in the Final Four for the first time.
Graduation
We’d be remiss if we also didn’t point out that those who stay with Auriemma’s program for four years claim a 100% graduation rate, according to the Connecticut athletic program website.
Olympic gold
Oh, yeah, there’s his eightyear tenure with the U.S. national team that resulted in gold medal wins in London in 2012 and in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.