When Geno Auriemma revealed the surprising reason for Diana Taurasi's UConn crowd appeal

For UConn coach Geno Auriemma, Diana Taurasi is still one of the greatest offensive players he has ever coached. Taurasi played four seasons under Auriemma at UConn in the early 2000s, where she became a star and helped draw thousands of fans to the arena.

Earlier this year, before a game between Caitlin Clark and Paige Bueckers in the April showdown of the Iowa Hawkeyes versus the UConn Huskies, Auriemma shared the surprising reason why people were drawn to Taurasi's game:

"You know we would get 16,000 people for every one of our games because we had Diana. And everybody said, 'Yeah you know she is the only player I like to watch because she plays like a guy.' Like, that was the defining, that was the validation that you needed to have, in order for anyone to appreciate who you are, what your talents are." (2:00)

Auriemma also detailed how the rise of superstar women's basketball players has shifted fan-attitude:

"Fans of women's basketball were fans of their teams. So, when it got to the biggest stage, if your team wasn't involved there wasn't a national consciousness of 'Hey we need to watch this,' and I think it's going beyond that now because of what some of these kids have done. They have created a fanbase of women's basketball." (2:26)

During Diana Taurasi's time at UConn, she won three back-to-back NCAA titles with coach Auriemma from 2002 to 2004. She also won two straight NCAA Most Outstanding Player awards in 2003 and 2004.

Diana Taurasi reflected on her career with Geno Auriemma at UConn

On Sept. 19, Diana Taurasi played the final regular season game of her 20th WNBA season against the Seattle Storm. Auriemma was in attendance, and the two shared a long hug postgame.

Still undecided on her future in the league and considering retiring, Taurasi told reporters about Auriemma's role in her career:

“Coach means the world to me. I got to Connecticut as an 18-year-old that didn’t really know much but thought she knew a lot, and he quickly told me I didn’t. And he let me know that every day because he knew if I could just scratch the surface of where he thought I could go, something special could happen.”

With the UConn Huskies, Diana Taurasi played 144 games, averaging 15 points while shooting 46.9% from the field and 39.2% from the 3-point line. She also averaged 4.4 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.0 blocks per game.