New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
ROLLOUT IN HIGH GEAR
UConn coach Geno Auriemma tests positive for COVID-19
While his team departs for the NCAA Tournament in Texas on Tuesday, UConn Hall of Fame basketball coach Geno Auriemma will be isolating at his Connecticut home.
Auriemma, 66, tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday — just four days after receiving his second dose of the coronavirus vaccine. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, people are fully vaccinated 14 days after a second dose of twodose vaccines.
UConn said contact tracing protocols showed Auriemma had no close contact with team members since Friday. Per NCAA Tournament protocol, all Tier I personnel (student-athletes, coaches, trainers and physical therapists, medical staff, equipment staff, officials) have been tested daily since March 9.
According to UConn, all Tier I personnel have tested negative.
Auriemma is asymptomatic and said he feels “great.” On Monday morning, he spoke at
the Middlesex Chamber of Commerce’s virtual breakfast.
“It came as a complete shock to me obviously and to our medical staff,” Auriemma said on a Zoom press conference Monday night. We’ve been testing every single day ... So who’s to say? I don’t know, but I feel good. And I’m really, really happy that that our players are going to get a chance to go down there tomorrow and start preparing to play in the NCAA Tournament.”
Auriemma said he has followed the same routine for a year, adhering to COVID guidelines while testing negative day after day.
Suddenly, there was a positive test. It was bewildering.
“That just goes to show you .... You have no idea with this thing,” Auriemma said. “You have no idea where, when, how … I haven’t done anything out of the ordinary, that I’ve done at any other time this year.
“I didn’t all of a sudden go on spring break. I didn’t go to Florida. I didn’t all of a sudden going on, you know, a motorcycle retreat in Montana or something. I didn’t do anything . ... So I have no idea. If I had to trace it back to Friday and Saturday. I have no idea. Zero.”
The announcement of Auriemma’s positive test came just hours before the NCAA unveiled the tournament bracket. UConn (24-1), ranked No. 1 in the country, begins its drive for a 12th NCAA title Sunday against High Point. The entire NCAA Tournament will be played in the San Antonio region.
Auriemma will remain isolated for 10 days and can join the team March
24. UConn’s second round game will be played March 23, so Auriemma will miss two games.
After getting his second shot Wedneday, Auriemma said he was fully aware that he would not be fully vaccinated for another two weeks.
“But you know it's like anything else,” he said. “You have to go into these things with the understanding that these are meant to be protection.
But, You know nothing in life is, is 100% foolproof. We all get a flu shot during the winter. Some people still get the flu.
“I think if I hadn't gotten the vaccine and then I tested positive, I might be really really really sick right now. And I feel, I feel really, really good. So I'm glad I got the vaccine. I'm glad I got the first one, I'm glad I got the second one. If there was a third one, I would get the third one. That's how convinced I am that it's helping.”
Auriemma also said his wife Kathy has continually tested negative. A statement from UConn director of sports medicine and head team physician Deena Casiero indicated the school is confident the virus has not spread, based on contact tracing.
“After we received notification of the positive test result yesterday, we initiated contact tracing protocols, which included interviewing individual members of the basketball program and in-depth video analysis of practice,” director of sports medicine and head team physician Deena Casiero said in a statement. “Only household close contacts were identified. Given the fact that we have been doing daily testing for the past seven days, we feel confident that we were able to catch this very early on in the disease process. The remainder of Tier I tested negative yesterday and today.”
Auriemma (1,115-143 in 36 seasons ) has missed 10 games since arriving at UConn in 1985. He missed the Big East tournament in 1989, when he was serving a suspension for a scheduling mistake. Eight years later, he missed the conference tournament because he returned to Pennsylvania following the death of his father Donato.
He most recently missed a game against Oklahoma last season when he had a surgical procedure to treat diverticulitis.
Associate coach Chris Dailey has coached UConn in Auriemma’s absences. Dailey is 10-0 as head coach.
“I have complete confidence and complete trust and faith in (Dailey) and (the coaching staff),” Auriemma said. “I’m an innocent bystander right now so I’m just going to sit back and watch them do their thing. CD is undefeated in tournament play, so I don’t think we can get a coach that has a better record in the tournament than she does.”
Said junior Olivia Nelson-Ododa: “The program is pretty uniform. Something Coach was talking about earlier is that we don't rely on just one person. That's kind of what makes our program special. If Coach is out, or if the roles were reversed and CD was out, we wouldn't have to rely on just one person to have speeches, to have different things to say to coach us. That fact that she can come in and pick up right where he left off in practice really speaks volumes, I think.
UConn is a favorite to win a national title, but the team does rely upon a strong freshman class. Auriemma said he spoke to his young team and players were most upset that he would be unable to travel with them to Texas.
But Auriemma does not expect his absence won’t distract the players from the preparation.
“It’s been a lot, but we're trying to focus on the tournament,” freshman Nika Muhl said. “We've been preparing for it. We're prepared for it. We're pretty excited to go and just play. We will keep doing what we've been doing the whole season. That's been our motto from the start, so I don't see why we would change anything. It is what it is.”