"She wouldn't have been here after her freshman year": Geno Auriemma jokes about how UConn legend Diana Taurasi would use NIL if she played today

UConn coach Geno Auriemma joked about how Huskies great Diana Taurasi would use the NIL to her favor had she played in today's era. Taurasi put a full stop to her stellar playing career after retirement on Tuesday.

During a media availability session for UConn's game against Creighton, Auriemma claimed that Taurasi would have transferred to a different school every year if she played today with the NIL at her disposal.

"She wouldn't have been here after her freshman year," Auriemma said (6:08). "She would have put herself out to the highest bidder (due to the) NIL."

The winningest coach in NCAA history believed that Taurasi would've taken advantage of the financial benefits of the NIL and would've played for a new program every year.

"She would have maximized that whole thing. The whole NIL thing would have been a huge game for her to play," Auriemma (6:17) spoke of Diana Taurasi, who played for UConn from 2001-2004.

Geno Auriemma also admired Taurasi's enthusiasm in every game she plays and noted that she has perfected it through the years. The UConn coach added that not everyone has the talent and the personality like her former player and that he'll remember for the rest of his life.

Taurasi played 144 games for UConn, averaging 15.0 points, 4.4 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.0 blocks per game. She won back-to-back Naismith College Player of the Year and NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player awards in 2003 and 2004.

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UConn coach Geno Auriemma believes Diana Taurasi may not be dipping herself into social media 24/7

UConn coach Geno Auriemma also expressed that Diana Taurasi may only be focusing herself on basketball alone and not on social media unlike any other player in today's world. The 11-time national champion claimed that Taurasi is the person who initially stays in the background until she is urged to do so.

"She's one of the most private people you'll ever meet until she's in front of a crowd and then she's not," the veteran bench tactician said (6:34). "But you don't see her on social media not like some of these other people that are all over."

Auriemma shared that it's Taurasi's nature to make everybody feel part of her world. She welcomes each person with a kiss or a hug, even to those people she barely knew.

Taurasi announced her retirement from basketball after 20 seasons playing for the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury. Taurasi, the league's leading scorer and voted by the fans as the "greatest of all time," made an impact as early as her collegiate days in UConn, where she was 22-1 in NCAA Tournament games.

She continued her winning attitude with Phoenix when she was drafted No. 1 overall in the 2004 draft. Three years later, she won the first of her three WNBA titles.

Her on-court longevity is unparalleled as she is the first basketball player to win six gold medals in the Olympics beginning in 2004 in Athens to Paris last year.

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