Legendary UConn women’s basketball head coach Geno Auriemma made history Wednesday night with the Huskies’ victory over Fairleigh Dickinson University.
Auriemma became the all-time wins leader in college basketball history for both men and women, collecting his 1,217th victory to pass Tara VanDerveer, the legendary Stanford Cardinal coach.
More than 60 former players were at Gampel Pavilion as part of a sellout crowd to watch the Huskies take down the Knights, 85-41. Despite UConn being a heavy favorite in this matchup, Auriemma went about coaching like the 1,216 wins before it, until the final buzzer sounded.
Connecticut Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma reacts in the first quarter against the Iowa Hawkeyes in the semifinals of the Final Four of the 2024 NCAA Tournament at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. (Kirby Lee/USA Today Sports)
The game was also a celebration of Auriemma and associate head coach Chris Dailey’s 40th season leading the Huskies. It was part of a celebration that included a goat petting zoo near the arena during a fan fest, a reference to Auriemma being the greatest of all-time.
While the night was meant to honor Auriemma and Dailey, the win to set the new record led to reflection on just how dominant his program has been at UConn all these years.
GENO AURIEMMA TIES DIVISION I COACHING RECORD AS NO. 2 UCONN BEATS NO. 14 UNC 69-58
The Huskies are 11-time national champions with 23 Final Four appearances, including 15 in the last 16 years.
Auriemma’s .882 win percentage for his career remains an NCAA record as well.
“At the beginning, we really just had our vision and each other to say, ‘This is what we’re going to do,'” Dailey said Tuesday, via ESPN. “And we were able to convince enough people to believe that same dream. And, eventually, 40 years later, a lot more has happened than what we ever thought would have.”
Paige Bueckers and head coach Geno Auriemma of the Connecticut Huskies during the first half against the Duke Blue Devils in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament at Moda Center March 30, 2024, in Portland, Ore. (Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
Auriemma has only coached at one school, building his squad in Storrs to the point it was nationally recognized as a powerhouse for decades. After the team’s first national title under Auriemma in 1995, UConn was, and still remains, a powerhouse every season.
Auriemma, 70, still wants to coach the Huskies despite admitting to feeling at times it was the right move to walk away.
“As long as I’m here, and I walk in this building, and I see the players here, and I see the people that work in my little world and how we all kind of motivate each other, there’s no other place I would want to be,” he said.
Head coach Geno Auriemma of the Connecticut Huskies celebrates after his team’s 80-73 win against the USC Trojans in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament at Moda Center April 1, 2024, in Portland, Ore. (Soobum Im/Getty Images)
UConn remains unbeaten at 4-0 to start the 2024-25 campaign.
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