Meet Head Coach Geno Auriemma

Geno Auriemma has redefined the meaning of success in college women’s basketball in his 17 years as head coach of the University of Connecticut.

On the court, his success includes three national championships and complete dominance in the BIG EAST Conference. Off the court, success means a flawless graduation rate and one of the most beloved sports team in the country.

Auriemma is a four-time national coach-of-the-year and has been named the BIG EAST coach-of-the-year five times.

His 17-year overall record stands at 464-98 (.826), making him third among active Division I coaches in winning percentage and the 30th coach overall to eclipse the 400-win mark.

Auriemma’s 2001-02 squad recorded the second undefeated season in program history with a 39-0 mark and registered UConn’s third national championship and sixth Final Four appearances. Auriemma’s teams also won the 1995 and 2000 national titles.

Featuring Kodak All-Americans Sue Bird, Swin Cash and Diana Taurasi, the 2001-02 Huskies posted an NCAA record-tying 39 wins and a 35.4 point average margin of victory, another NCAA record. His team also earned its 12th BIG EAST regular season title and 11th BIG EAST tournament title as the Huskies made their 14th straight NCAA appearance.

The 1999-2000 national championship season included a then-school-record 19-straight weeks ranked No. 1 in the national polls and a final record of 36-1.

UConn captured the program’s first national title in 1994-95, when Auriemma led the Huskies to a perfect 35-0 record. UConn was only the second team in Division I women’s basketball history to go undefeated on the way to the national championship. The Huskies team became the first unbeaten team in NCAA history (all divisions, men or women) to win 35 games in a season.

Under Auriemma’s direction, UConn ranked second nationally in Division I victories in the 1990’s (Jan. 1, 1990-Dec. 31, 1999) with 290 total wins. The Huskies were also second in the nation in total winning percentage (.860) in the decade as well as establishing a BIG EAST record for conference victories (158).

After inheriting a Husky program that had just one winning season in its 11-year history, Auriemma has posted 16 winning seasons since arriving at UConn in August of 1985. The Huskies now also hold every BIG EAST single game and single season home court attendance record.

Since 1988-89, the first season the Huskies earned a BIG EAST regular season championship, UConn ranks No. 1 among all BIG EAST teams in league regular season wins (217-22, a .908 winning percentage). Coupled with UConn’s 38-3 record in BIG EAST Tournament action since 1989, the Huskies have posted an impressive overall mark of 255-25 (.911) against BIG EAST competition in the past 14 years.

The development of national caliber student-athletes has been Auriemma’s forte during his UConn coaching tenure. Every recruited freshman that has played for Auriemma at Connecticut and completed her eligibility at UConn has obtained her undergraduate degree.

Impressively, since the 1991-92 season, 26 of UConn’s starters — 16 different players — have been on the Dean’s List.

Among these 16 players are four of the most highly acclaimed women’s basketball players ever – Rebecca Lobo, Jennifer Rizotti, Kara Wolters and Bird. All four of these student-athletes earned Associated Press National Player of the Year honors and won the Wade Trophy and Honda Broderick Awards.

Auriemma has coached 10 First Team Kodak All-Americans, with the most recent selections of Bird, Cash and Taurasi. This includes nine consecutive seasons (1993-2002) where at least one UConn player earned Kodak All-America honors and a total of 16 honors.

UConn’s home court record also stands as one of the most impressive in the nation. In Auriemma’s tenure, UConn is 253-27 at home against collegiate opponents, for a sparkling .904 winning percentage.

By building such a dynamic program, Huskymania fan support and enthusiasm is at an all-time high. UConn was first nationally in total home attendance for all Division I women’s programs in 2001-02, attracting 238,142 fans for 20 home dates in Harry A. Gampel Pavilion and the Hartford Civic Center, including two NCAA games. The Huskies boasted an advance sellout of every game in Gampel Pavilion and the Hartford Civic Center. UConn is No. 2 in the nation in home attendance for the past eight seasons, attracting 1,499,219 fans.

Prior to taking the UConn position, Auriemma served as the primary assistant women’s coach at the University of Virginia under head coach Debbie Ryan from 1981-85. He helped lead the Cavaliers and to the Atlantic Coast Conference championship in 1984.

Before his Virginia position, Auriemma was assistant women’s basketball coach at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia with then-head coach Jim Foster (now Ohio State women’s basketball head coach). He also coached boys’ basketball at his high school alma mater, Bishop Kenrick High School in Norristown, Pa., from 1979-81.

Auriemma has found success even beyond the college coaching ranks due to his involvement with USA Basketball. In the summer of 2000, Auriemma represented the United States at the Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, as an assistant coach of the gold medal winning Olympic Team

That same summer, Auriemma led the 2000 USA Women’s Basketball Junior World Championship team to a gold medal in the COPABA Junior World Cup Qualifying Tournament in Argentina. Auriemma and the squad advanced to the 2001 FIBA Junior World Championship for women held in the Czech Republic in July of 2001, and returned with the bronze. In April of 1996, he was co-head coach of the National Senior All-Stars when the All-Stars met the United States National Team.

During the summer of 1996, he served as coach of the USA Basketball Select Team in Colorado Springs, Colo. In January of 1995, Auriemma was named an assistant coach of the USA World University Games Women’s Basketball Team, which played in Fukuoka, Japan, in the summer of 1995; due to personal conflicts, however, he had to relinquish that position. He also served as head coach of the West Team at the 1993 U.S. Olympic Festival in San Antonio, Texas.

In addition to his coaching duties, Auriemma serves on several national basketball committees. He was a four-year member of the Kodak All-America Selection Committee and was named chair of that committee in January of 1992. He has also been a voting member of the USA TODAY/WBCA Top 25 Poll.

An accomplished speaker, Auriemma also is involved in numerous regional and state charitable and educational efforts. For the last seven years, Auriemma has been the chair of Why-Me of New England, a fund-raising organization for breast cancer research, and also has served as the State of Connecticut honorary chair for the American Heart Association.

In the fall of 1993, Auriemma was elected into the National Mortar Board academic honor society for his outstanding contributions to UConn academics and for community service.

Auriemma currently serves as co-chair of the Connecticut Arthritis Foundation. In May of 1994, Auriemma was awarded the prestigious UConn Club Outstanding Contribution Award for his service and commitment to Husky athletics.

In tribute to the Huskies’ first NCAA National Championship, and for his commitment to intercollegiate athletes and service in the community, Auriemma received two special awards in 1995.

He was one of four recipients of the 1995 Center for the Study of Sport in Society "National Student-Athlete Day Giant Steps Award", presented in Boston. He was also honored with "Geno Auriemma Day" at the National Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass., on August 9, 1995.

Auriemma has given back to the university as well. In November 1998, he and his wife Kathy gave a $125,000 gift to the University of Connecticut Library.

Auriemma is a 1981 graduate of West Chester with a B.A. in political science. He resides in Manchester, Conn., with Kathy and their three children: Jenna (18), Alyssa (16) and Michael (13).