Did Geno Auriemma and Pat Summitt have a beef? All we know about historic rivalry between legendary college coaches

The UConn-Tennessee rivalry was one of the most anticipated showdowns in women's basketball since it began in 1995 season in Storrs. Including the NCAA Tournaments, the Huskies and the Volunteers fought 27 times, with Geno Auriemma's team leading the series, 17-10.

The storied clash had a 13-year stretch from 1995-2007, where they fought 22 times, including seven NCAA Tournament clashes and four duels for the national title. The regular season clashes ended after the 2007 season.

Various reports said that Tennessee coach Pat Summitt opted to halt the games without elaborating the reason behind it. As Summitt was reserved about stating the specifics behind the sudden stoppage, Auriemma went public, saying the former Tennessee coach accused UConn of violating recruitment policies, particularly on hiring All-American Maya Moore.

For his part, Auriemma replied to Summitt's accusations and dared her to disclose it publicly. The 11-time national champion coach then noted that had there been any violations, the NCAA would have punished them.

“She accused us of cheating. She just doesn’t have the courage to say it publicly,” he said of Summitt.

That started the beef between two legendary coaches. Summitt, who's known as a strict coach with a penchant on following the rules, would deflect questions surrounding the issue and settled with one-liners like:

"Ask Geno."

"Geno knows why," and

"If he wants to tell it, he can tell it."

Auriemma would also retort one-liners to reporters:

"Anything to do with her."

"I want nothing to do with it."

In her book, "Sum it Up: 1,098 Victories, a Couple of Irrelevant Losses, and a Life in Perspective," Summitt shed light on her thoughts about Auriemma, branding him as a person who likes to make barbed remarks that she said had an "ungenerous edge." She felt that the UConn coach resents Tennessee while winning consistently over the Lady Volunteers.

The flames of the fire expanded when she received a note on faxed she assumed as Auriemma's writing. It wrote:

"I predicted Tennessee would lose to Xavier, and I also predicted Pat would blame her team instead of herself."

A college basketball reporter felt the beef was due to their strong personalities, with Auriemma living in suburban Philadelphia after immigrating from Italy, while Summitt grew up in a family farm where she felt Auriemma wasn't gentlemanly enough for her.

Summitt also hurled pleasantries on the UConn coach when he spoke about the Tennessee coach's friendship with Villanova coach Harry Perretta. An old friend of Auriemma, Perretta felt that the Villanova tactician left him for "an older woman" and made what she claims inappropriate jabs against her. Summitt responded, saying that Auriemma is jealous and paranoid.

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Geno Auriemma and Pat Summitt resolve their beef in 2012

As old people say: all things end up with a positive resolution. Geno Auriemma and Pat Summitt resolved their beef in the Final Four of the 2012 NCAA Tournament in Denver. The coaches met briefly courtside and forgave each other.

The bond went even stronger when she was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's Disease. Summitt launched the Pat Summitt Foundation, and Auriemma donated a $10,000 check to her charity.

"Shortly after I went public, I formed the Pat Summitt Foundation to fight Alzheimer's, with the help of my friend Danielle Donehew, an associate commissioner of the Big East Conference. Danielle asked Geno if he wanted to be the first contributor to it. He wrote out a check on the spot — for $10,000," she said.

Pat Summitt died on June 28, 2016, and didn't see the renewal of the UConn-Tennessee rivalry on Jan. 23, 2020. Auriemma seemed to have moved on from the feud and urged fans to stop selling the rivalry as a matchup between him and Summitt.

The legendary coaches combined for 2,342 wins, 19 national titles and 41 Final Fours. But more than the records and the beef that surrounded them for years, the contributions by Geno Auriemma and Pat Summitt speaks volumes for women's basketball as the sport charts a new direction in the modern era.