“She has been following me around”: When Geno Auriemma revealed how he met his wife Kathy in college

Geno Auriemma has enjoyed immense success as the head coach of the UConn Huskies in the last four decades. He enjoyed all of it alongside his wife, Kathy, with whom he shared a special love story long before he took the top job at the Huskies.

During an appearance on "Makers" in 2017, Geno Auriemma revealed how they first met in 1972 when he played for the Montgomery County Junior College team, while Kathy was a cheerleader. He gave two different takes, before admitting Kathy's version was far closer to the truth.

"There's probably two versions of the story of how we met," said Auriemma. My version is she has been following me around for about a week, or something like that, you know, stalking me, and eventually, you know, I got tired.

"And hers is probably closer to the truth. She was a cheerleader and I was on the team, and we're supposed to meet after the game. Everybody left, and she's standing there."

Auriemma then revealed how he offered to drop her home, even though it was out of his way, before revealing the exact moment when he was floored by Kathy during their drive.

"And I said, Okay, where's, where's your house? Where are we going here?' And she said, 'see that drug store over there?' I said yes. She goes, 'Well, my mom and I have an apartment on top of the drugstore.' I was like, like, hit the brakes. You know? I think we almost got an accident. Like, you got to be kidding me. The rest is history."

Geno Auriemma honors wife Kathy before claiming all-time wins record

Ahead of the Huskies' game against the FDU Knights on Wednesday, where a win would make him the winningest coach in college basketball history, Geno Auriemma reflected on his UConn journey with Kathy on Tuesday.

Geno praised his partner for being by his side and helping him behind the scenes amid his success all these years.

"I've been exceptionally lucky. I've had the good fortune of having a partner that understands and believes in what I'm doing."

The Huskies comfortably dispatched the Knights 85-41, giving Auriemma the all-time college wins record.

Top recruit Sarah Strong continued her strong start to her freshman season, finishing with 20 points and eight rebounds. Paige Bueckers wasn't far behind, finishing with 16 points and nine rebounds to lead the Huskies to a historic win.