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Michael Voepel
Tampa, Fla. – Uconne Coach Geno Auriemma joked that he was the oldest coach who won the basketball title Division I, Female or Men, after his Huskies got the 12th program on Sunday.
“Well, all the other coaches had a good sense not to stick to them until they were 71,” Auriemma said after winning 82-59 over South Carolina in Amalie Arena.
He also won his 10th Championship in this place in 2015. Then Huskies in 2016 won again in Indianapolis for the fourth direct title, which ended the amazing career of Breanna Stewart.
“There was a large part of my inner circle of people I believe that we hope that after the fourth in a row of Stewie, which I was supposed to call the day,” Auriemma said. “I think it would be Apropos – go to sunset.
“But … you decide not to end yet, and then they run for three or four years and people start telling you that Uconn is no longer uconn and it’s up to someone else.
Overall, eight years and seven NCAA tournaments (the 2020 tournament was abolished by the Covid-19 pandemies) between the end of Stewart’s government and the Sunday championship. During this time Uconn still got to the final four, but one (2023, when Paige Bueckers He was out with his knee injuries), but the championships went to South Carolina (three), Notre Dame, Baylor, Stanford and LSU.
Together with Buecker’s injury in 2022-23, guardian Azzi advantage Last season, they missed everyone except two knee injuries, and Huskies dealt with several other serious injuries of key players. Uconn was not in full force in the last three postseasons.
“For us it always seemed that if we ever had a chance to health, it could be quite good,” Auriemma said.
This was the case of Sunday because Huskies defeated their third seed No. 1 in this tournament. UConn won his two finals four games of combined 57 points. Bueckers, Fudd and Freshman Sarah Strong He created the All-Tournament team with Fudd as the most important player Final Four. The trio in the semifinals gained 65 points against South Carolina and 57 against UCLA.
For Auriemma, who is the most winning coach at university basketball (1,250-165), it was his 24. Final four and now is 12-1 in the championship games. The only loss came to South Carolina in 2022.
Auriemma’s birthday is in March; He was 71 years old and 14 days. The previous oldest coach who won the title of Women was Stanford Tara Vanderveer in 2021, when she was 67 years old, 282 days. The oldest who wins the title of men is also since Uconn: Jim Calhoun, who was 68 years old, 329 days when Huskies won in 2011.
Auriemma was half seriously said on Saturday that in the last few years he had been thinking about retirement several times a season, but he always found the reasons to stay around.
“We all feel our age at some point,” he said. “We do not like to admit that we are older because we are still acting younger because of the people we deal with. Many of my friends who are my age who have not done what I did with whom I did it … they look much older.
“So, yeah, maybe I’m 71 numerical, but I think otherwise I’m able to do things with those young people because I’m around them every day and they’re wiping on me. It means I can do it for another x years? No, because you know, wine is good for you.
“So these children are fun.
So far, however, it sounds that Auriemma is willing to spend more time, where he has since taken over the UConn program in 1985. He attributes players to it.
“If I tell you it’s really from your hands, it’s really true,” he said. “All of this is in the hands of the players playing. And today it paid off.”
