Geno Auriemma reacts to women's CBB teams finally getting paid to play in the NCAA tournament

UConn Huskies coach Geno Auriemma is coming off of a 71-45 beatdown of the St. John's Red Storm on Wednesday, Jan. 15. This win gives him and his national title-hungry program their seventh straight victory of the 2025 Big East conference to stay undefeated and 16th victory overall in 18 games played.

After every ounce of success that goes his way, Auriemma continues to pad on his iconic college basketball coaching career. After all, he is an 11-time national champion and is seeking No. 12 in the national tournament in March. That being said, he has had a fair share of players under his tutelage who have made UConn the powerhouse program it is today.

Perhaps whenever his athletes get recognition, it serves as a triumph for him. This is exactly what Auriemma felt when he was asked during the post-game press conference of their St. John win regarding the breaking news that women's basketball teams are to be paid for getting into March Madness:

"A lot of the small schools, this is their livelihood. They count on their men's team to make an NCAA tournament, try to go deep into the tournament. That is a huge chunk of thier revenue as a department. So, to have another team within the department that can theoretically earn, it's great for the schools (and) the future of the game," he said. (Timestamp: 1:33)

Auriemma expressed how beneficial this development is since the NCAA has been paying its men's basketball teams for quite some time already. So, to have both the men's and women's sides be compensated speaks wonders to the revolution of the sport:

"It's another step in the right direction based on what's happened in the past couple of years. They said it's capitalizing on the momentum that's out there. There is money being put on the table for broadcast rights and any other corporate investments, and the schools are gonna be the beneficiary of that as it should be," he shared. (2:11)

"It's a statement that they made today about where women's basketball fits into the big picture of college athletics," Auriemma concluded.

For a UConn Huskies program that is looking to return championship glory to their side after a nine-year drought, the team compensation could serve as an added motivation for them to go all the way in the playoffs.

Geno Auriemma explains how the Big East was paying its teams before the NCAA

During the presser, Geno Auriemma also talked about how the Big East conference was already giving its participating teams compensation and even incentives for reaching certain achievements long before the NCAA decided to implement it in the national tournament.

"The Big East was way ahead of a lot of other conferences back when we had the big league. We had revenue sharing within our own league, and you were rewarded for winning the regular season (and) the tournament, going far in the NCAA tournament, winning the national championship. So, I thought it really incentivize a lot of the teams in our league," he stated. (0:20)

"Performance units" will now be awarded to participating and winning teams in college women's basketball starting this year. If Auriemma and the Huskies play their cards right, they may see a hefty amount of bonuses from the Big East and from the national tourney.