Geno Auriemma

Geno Auriemma (born March 23, 1954, in Montella, Italy) is an Italian-American basketball coach, best known as the head coach of the University of Connecticut Huskies women's basketball team, in which capacity Auriemma has led the Huskies to six National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I national championships (in 1995, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2009) and has garnered six national Naismith College Coach of the Year awards.

He emigrated with his family to Norristown, Pennsylvania when he was seven years old, and spent the rest of his childhood there. After graduating from West Chester University of Pennsylvania in 1977, Auriemma was hired as an assistant coach at Saint Joseph's University, where he worked in 1978 and 1979. After a two-year absence from college basketball, serving as an assistant coach at his former high school, Bishop Kenrick Auriemma, in 1981, assumed an assistant coaching position with the University of Virginia Cavaliers. Auriemma became a naturalized United States citizen in 1994, noting in his autobiography that he finally decided to naturalize when his UConn team was slated to tour Italy that summer and he was concerned about potential problems because he had never done any required national service.

UConn career

Before Auriemma, the Huskies had posted just one winning season in their entire history. As was true at many schools at the time, Connecticut did not have a strong commitment to women's sports. Both players and coaches had to scrap for facilities and resources. Eventually, some students wishing to form a soccer team threatened to sue the university. The Trustees went on record supporting women's sports, and the administration decided to provide more support, especially for sports with a potential for revenue, such as women's basketball. The decision to hire a new coach was part of this commitment to strengthen the women's sports at Connecticut. Auriemma was the last of a series of interviews conducted by the search staff. Most of the other candidates were highly qualified coaches, and most were female. Ironically, one of those included in the interview process was Chris Dailey, who would become Auriemma's assistant, and is currently the Associate Head Coach at UConn. Dailey was identified as the candidate likely to receive an offer if Auriemma turned down the offer.

Connecticut quickly rose to prominence after Auriemma was hired in August 1985: they finished 12–15 in Auriemma's first season, his only losing season at Connecticut. Since then, Connecticut has finished above .500 for 23 consecutive seasons, including three undefeated seasons, 1994–95, 2001–02, and 2008–09, and an NCAA record streak of 70 consecutive wins. At end of the 2008–2009 season, Auriemma's record as a head coach is 696-122, for an .851 winning percentage. That winning percentage is the highest among Division I active coaches. His career in Storrs also includes an amazing 14 seasons with 30 or more wins. UConn has won 6 National Championships under Auriemma (1995, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2009) and made the Final Four 10 times (1991, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2008, and 2009). Auriemma has also guided UConn to 15 Big East regular season titles and 14 Big East Tournament titles.

The team has been especially successful on its home court in the Harry A. Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, Connecticut; they tied an NCAA women's basketball record with 69 consecutive home wins between 2000 and 2003. Moreover, between Auriemma's arrival and the close of the 2005 season, they have won 295 games versus just 31 losses. At Gampel, the team has set Big East Conference records for both single-game and season-long attendance.

Auriemma is also known for his success in cultivating individual players, and the eight multiple-All-America players—Rebecca Lobo, Jennifer Rizzotti, Kara Wolters, Nykesha Sales, Svetlana Abrosimova, Sue Bird, Swin Cash, and Diana Taurasi—whom Auriemma has coached have combined to win three Naismith College Player of the Year awards, four Wade Trophies, and two NCAA Basketball Tournament Most Outstanding Player awards. (The UConn athletics website also notes that, through 2006–07, every recruited freshman who has finished her eligibility at Storrs has graduated with a degree.)

The rivalry between the Huskies and the University of Tennessee Lady Vols has extended to Auriemma's relationship with Volunteers counterpart Pat Summitt; the two, through print and broadcast media, are often at odds. At the end of the 2008–2009 season, Auriemma has slightly surpassed Summitt among active Division I coaches for career winning percentage, with Auriemma at .851 and Summitt at .839. Rumors of tension between Auriemma and men's basketball coach Jim Calhoun were widely circulated, but the two apparently reconciled after the teams garnered national championships, on consecutive nights, in 2004.

Pat Summitt declined to continue the yearly game in June, 2007, to the disappointment of WCBB fans, but the prospect of NCAA matchups between UConn and Tennessee will keep the rivalry alive.

Geno Auriemma has posted some impressive numbers during his tenure in Storrs. Since achieving its 1st #1 ranking in the 1994–1995 season, UConn under Auriemma is 186-10 when playing as the nation's #1 team. He also boasts a record of 127-52 against top 25 opponents and a 57-35 record against top 10 opponents. He won his 600th game on New Year's Eve 2006, accomplishing the feat in a mere 716 games, tying him with Phillip Kahler for the fastest women's basketball coach to reach that milestone. Geno was a member of the inaugural class (2006) of inductees to the University of Connecticut women's basketball "Huskies of Honor" recognition program.

Honors and other activities

In 2006, Auriemma was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts, and the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in Knoxville, Tennessee.

During the college basketball offseason, Auriemma serves as an analyst for games of the Women's National Basketball Association broadcast on the American cable television networks ESPN and ESPN2, in which capacity he often critiques his former players. [http://www.wnba.com/playoffs2005/taurasi_050918_06.html]

In November 2007, Auriemma was inducted into the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame, in a class that included Dick Vermeil, Mike Scioscia, Fred Couples, and others.

Auriemma is close friends with Saint Joseph's University basketball head coach Phil Martelli and his son, Mike Auriemma, attends and plays basketball at Saint Joseph's.

Auriemma was named the 2009 USBWA National Coach of the Year by the United States Basketball Writers Association.

Auriemma served as an assistant coach to the gold medalist 2000 U.S. Olympic Team. On April 15, 2009 he was selected to lead USA Basketball Women's National Team in the 2010 FIBA World Championship in the Czech Republic and if the USA qualifies, he will coach the team in the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London, England.

Auriemma is a member of the Board of Directors of the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund.

Translation

The phrase "Geno Auriemma" occurs as such in the following languages: English, German, Italian.