Geno Auriemma confirms return as UConn head coach next season
Geno Auriemma confirmed to The Athletic that he will be returning to coach the Huskies next season for his 43rd at the helm. Auriemma, 72, has been the torchbearer of success in collegiate women’s basketball for much of his four-decade career. He’s won 12 national championships (six of them undefeated), been to 25 Final Fours, and has 1,288 career wins.
He’s the winningest college basketball coach in history, men’s or women’s, and will return to increase that lead next season. Friday night saw the end of a 54-game unbeaten streak and a 38-0 undefeated season for Auriemma’s Huskies. Had UConn beaten South Carolina and won Sunday’s national championship, it would have been Auriemma’s seventh undefeated championship.
Instead, Auriemma has faced public scrutiny in the hours since UConn’s 62-48 Final Four semifinal loss on Friday for his behavior toward South Carolina coach Dawn Staley. With less than a second left, Auriemma walked over to Staley for the customary postgame handshake and instead shared spirited words with his opposing three-time national championship coach. An argument ensued, with both sides visibly frustrated, before Auriemma left the floor without finishing the handshake line and without his team.
He released a statement Saturday morning condemning his actions the night prior. “There’s no excuse for how I handled the end of the game vs. South Carolina,” Auriemma said in the statement released by UConn.
“It’s unlike what I do and what our standard is here at Connecticut. I want to apologize to the staff and the team at South Carolina. It was uncalled for in how I reacted.