Geno Auriemma

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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 five National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I national championships (in 1995, 2000, 2002, 2003, and 2004) and has garnered five national Naismith College Coach of the Year awards.

He immigrated 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, 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.

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[edit] UConn career

Before Auriemma, the Huskies had posted just one winning season in their entire history. They 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 22 consecutive seasons, including two undefeated seasons, 1994-95 and 2001-02, and an NCAA record streak of 70 consecutive wins. Towards the end of the 2007-2008 season while during NCAA tournament play, Auriemma's record as a head coach is currently 655-121. His career in Storrs also includes an amazing 13 seasons with 30 or more wins. UConn has won 5 National Championships under Auriemma (1995, 2000, 2002, 2003,and 2004) and made the Final Four 9 times (1991, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2008). 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. 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.

[edit] Head coaching record

Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Connecticut (Big East) (1985 — 2008)
1985-1986 Connecticut 12-15 4-12 7
1986-1987 Connecticut 14-13 9-7 4
1987-1988 Connecticut 17-11 9-7 5
1988-1989 Connecticut 24-6 13-2 1 NCAA 1st round
1989-1990 Connecticut 25-6 14-2 1 NCAA 2nd round
1990-1991 Connecticut 29-5 14-2 1 NCAA Final Four
1991-1992 Connecticut 23-11 13-5 2 NCAA 2nd round
1992-1993 Connecticut 18-11 12-6 1 NCAA 1st round
1993-1994 Connecticut 30-3 17-1 1 NCAA Elite 8
1994-1995 Connecticut 35-0 18-0 1 NCAA Champions
1995-1996 Connecticut 34-4 17-1 1 NCAA Final Four
1996-1997 Connecticut 33-1 18-0 1 NCAA Elite 8
1997-1998 Connecticut 34-3 17-1 1 NCAA Elite 8
1998-1999 Connecticut 29-5 17-1 1 NCAA Sweet 16
1999-2000 Connecticut 36-1 16-0 1 NCAA Champions
2000-2001 Connecticut 32-3 15-1 1 NCAA Final Four
2001-2002 Connecticut 39-0 16-0 1 NCAA Champions
2002-2003 Connecticut 37-1 16-0 1 NCAA Champions
2003-2004 Connecticut 31-4 14-2 1 NCAA Champions
2004-2005 Connecticut 25-8 13-2 2 NCAA Sweet 16
2005-2006 Connecticut 32-5 14-2 2 NCAA Elite 8
2006-2007 Connecticut 32-4 16-0 1 NCAA Elite 8
2007-2008 Connecticut 36-2 17-1 1 NCAA Final Four
Connecticut: 655-122 312-54
Total: 655-122

      National Champion         Conference Champion         Conference Tournament Champion


[edit] 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. [1]

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.

Auriemmea is close friends with Saint Joseph's University basketball head coach Phil Martelli.

[edit] External links

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