"Who knows?": 71-year-old Geno Auriemma says he's not retiring in the near future but remains sceptical over UConn future

UConn Huskies coach Geno Auriemma
UConn Huskies coach Geno Auriemma

UConn coach Geno Auriemma won his 12th national championship on Sunday evening after his No. 2-seeded Huskies beat coach Dawn Staley's No. 1-seeded South Carolina Gamecocks. The Huskies dominated the reigning national champions, blowing them out 82-59 to clinch the legendary coach's first natty since 2016.

Ad

During Tuesday's segment of "TODAY," Auriemma addressed speculation around his retirement after his latest national championship win (2:50).

"I don't know. I have run out of gas a few times on the highway but I'm not very good at keeping track of that kind of stuff," Geno Auriemma said. "I've said this before, when you have the kind of work experience that I have, every day I'm surrounded by people who are alive, they're young, they're moving, they're growing and you get swept up in all that.
Ad
"I'm 71 by numbers, but I don't know that I feel that because every day I'm surrounded by young people. They can call me gramps or pops or whatever they wanna call me, but at the end of the day, I feel like I'm having an impact on them and they're having an impact on me. So, who knows when that morning when I wake up and say, 'Listen, I can't do it anymore.' But I don't see that being tomorrow morning. Let's put it that way."
Ad
youtube-cover
Ad

Geno Auriemma hailed as the GOAT by analyst

Geno Auriemma was appointed the UConn coach in 1985 and won his first national championship in 1995.

Since then, he has maintained a stunning pace, winning 11 more titles spread across four different decades while coaching some of the greatest players the game has ever seen.

During Tuesday's segment of First Take, ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith hailed the charismatic Auriemma as the greatest coach of all time.

Ad
"I think it is easy to call him the greatest ever," Smith said. "And the reason why I feel that way is because it is four different decades that he has done this.
Ad
"When you think about Bill Belichick you think about Tom Brady, when you think of some of the great basketball coaches, the Phil Jackson, he had Kobe and Shaq and you had Jordan and Pippen," Smith said. "I am just looking at Geno, he has never ran from anything. He has won all the time. ... he is the greatest ever."

Despite Paige Buecker's departure for the WNBA, Geno Auriemma will still have the talents of the returning and reigning Final Four Most Outstanding Player, Azzi Fudd and talented forward Sarah Strong to count on next season in the next chapter of his legendary career.

Quick Links

Edited by Bhargav
Sportskeeda logo
Close menu
WWE
WWE
NBA
NBA
NFL
NFL
MMA
MMA
Tennis
Tennis
NHL
NHL
Golf
Golf
MLB
MLB
Soccer
Soccer
F1
F1
WNBA
WNBA
More
More
bell-icon Manage notifications