When Geno Auriemma gave blunt advice to UConn sophomore to help her realise her potential: “Change your goals or your work habits”

Geno Auriemma is regarded by many as one of the best coaches in women's college basketball. He is also well-known for his brutal honesty, which has an impact on the players he directly coaches.

Auriemma took part in an interview for the "What Drives Winning" channel uploaded to YouTube in January 2019. He recalled a time when he spoke to a then-sophomore about her potential.

Geno Auriemma confronted the player with the reality that her current progress wouldn't help her reach the goals she wanted to achieve, which included a national championship, being an All-American, making it to the Olympics team and the WNBA.

"I called her in the office and I said, 'Remember what you told me?' and she said, 'Yeah.' I said, 'It's not going to happen. Watching you for two years here, it's not going to happen,'" Auriemma recalled (11:43).

"Here's your choices: change your goals, or change your work habits. One of those two things. If you want to keep your goals, then you need to change. So, what's it going to be?"

What lies ahead for Geno Auriemma's Huskies

The UConn Huskies' overall performance this season has been solid. The Huskies boast a 25-3 overall record, going 15-0 in Big East conference play. They produce 81.3 points on 50.8% shooting from the floor, including 38.2% from the 3-point range, blowing out opponents by a margin of 29 points per game.

Bueckers leads UConn with 18.6 points, 4.6 assists, 4.5 rebounds, and 2.1 steals in 26 appearances. Sarah Strong comes next with 15.9 points and 7.9 rebounds, Azzi Fudd puts up 13.1 points on 47.4% shooting from downtown, while Ashlynn Shade contributes with 8.3 points and 2.8 rebounds.

On Saturday, the Huskies face the Butler Bulldogs, who have a 15-14 overall record this season, having lost 11 of their 16 Big East matchups. They put up 63.3 points on 42.7% shooting from the field and 34.1% from behind the line, getting past teams by a slim margin of 0.8 points per game. Kilyn McGuff leads the unit with 12.4 points, 8.1 rebounds and 1.5 steals.

After the game, Geno Auriemma and the No. 5 Huskies will prepare for their next matchup, against a ranked opponent, the No. 23 Creighton Blue Jays at the XL Center on Feb. 27 at 7 p.m. EST.