Geno Auriemma facts for kids
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Auriemma in 2023
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| Current position | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Title | Head coach | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team | UConn | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Conference | Big East | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Record | 1,231–164 (.882) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Annual salary | $2.4 million | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Biographical details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | March 23, 1954 Montella, Italy |
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| Alma mater | West Chester University | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1977–1979 | Bishop McDevitt High School (Assistant Varsity Coach / Head Junior Varsity Coach) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1978–1979 | Saint Joseph's (assistant) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1979–1981 | Bishop Kenrick HS (assistant) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1981–1985 | Virginia (assistant) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1985–present | Connecticut | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Head coaching record | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Overall | 1,231–164 (.882) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tournaments | 137–24 (NCAA Division I) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Accomplishments and honors | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Championships | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Basketball Hall of Fame Inducted in 2006 (profile) |
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| Women's Basketball Hall of Fame | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Luigi "Geno" Auriemma (born March 23, 1954) is a famous American basketball coach. He is best known for being the head coach of the UConn Huskies women's basketball team. He holds the record for the most wins (1,231) and the highest winning percentage among college coaches. This includes coaches at any level, for both men's and women's teams, who have coached for at least 10 seasons.
Since he became head coach in 1985, Geno Auriemma has led UConn to amazing success. His teams have had 17 perfect conference seasons, including eight in a row. Six of these were also perfect overall seasons, meaning they didn't lose a single game all year! He has won 11 NCAA Division I national championships. This is the most championships ever won in women's college basketball history. He has also won eight national Naismith College Coach of the Year awards.
From 2009 to 2016, Auriemma was also the head coach for the United States women's national basketball team. During this time, his teams won the 2010 and 2014 World Championships. They also won gold medals at the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics. His teams were undefeated in all four of these big tournaments. In 2006, Geno Auriemma was honored by being added to both the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame.
Contents
Early Life and Coaching Start
Geno Auriemma was born in Montella, Italy. When he was seven years old, his family moved to Norristown, Pennsylvania in the United States. He grew up in a family that didn't have much money. His parents worked hard in factory jobs. Geno had to learn English by himself after arriving in the U.S.
After finishing college at West Chester University in 1977, Auriemma started his coaching career. He first worked as an assistant coach for women's basketball at Bishop McDevitt High School. Then, he became an assistant coach at Saint Joseph's University from 1978 to 1979. He also coached at his old high school, Bishop Kenrick, for two years. In 1981, he became an assistant coach for the University of Virginia Cavaliers women's team.
In 1994, when he was 40, Auriemma became a naturalized United States citizen. He decided to do this because his UConn team was going to visit Italy. He was worried about possible problems since he hadn't done military service in Italy. When he was a kid, his favorite basketball team was the 1970s New York Knicks.
UConn Huskies Success
Before Geno Auriemma joined the Huskies women's basketball team in 1985, they had only had one winning season in their history. The university decided to hire Auriemma as part of a plan to support women's sports more. One of the people who helped interview him was Chris Dailey. She later became his assistant coach and is now the associate head coach.
Connecticut quickly became a top team after Auriemma was hired. In his first season, the Huskies had a 12–15 record, which was his only losing season. After that, they had their first-ever season with 20 or more wins. They also won their first conference title and played in the NCAA Tournament for the first time.
The Huskies have had winning records for 33 seasons in a row. This includes six perfect seasons where they didn't lose any games at all. They also set three NCAA records for winning streaks: 111, 90, and 70 games in a row. On December 21, 2010, UConn won its 89th game in a row. This broke the all-time NCAA men's record of 88 wins held by UCLA. The streak finally ended at 90 wins. Later, the Huskies broke their own record with an amazing 111-game winning streak from 2014 to 2017.
UConn has played in every NCAA Tournament since 1989. This is the third-longest streak of appearances in Division I. By the end of the 2014–15 season, Auriemma's coaching record was 917 wins and 134 losses. This means he had an 87.3% winning percentage, which was the highest among active Division I coaches. He has also led UConn to 20 seasons with 30 or more wins.
Under Auriemma, UConn has won eleven national championships. These wins happened in 1995, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016. They have also reached the Final Four 23 times. Auriemma has also guided UConn to 21 regular season conference titles and 20 conference tournament titles. They rarely lost conference games in the Big East Conference. They have never lost a conference game since the American Athletic Conference was formed in 2013.
In 2016, Auriemma passed UCLA men's coach John Wooden for the most college basketball championships. The Huskies also became the first Division I women's basketball team to win four national championships in a row.
The team is very strong when playing at home. They play in the Harry A. Gampel Pavilion on the UConn campus and the XL Center in Hartford. They once tied an NCAA women's basketball record with 69 home wins in a row between 2000 and 2003. They broke that record in 2011.
Auriemma is also known for helping individual players become great. He has coached 13 players who were named All-America multiple times. These players include Rebecca Lobo, Jennifer Rizzotti, Kara Wolters, Nykesha Sales, Svetlana Abrosimova, Sue Bird, Swin Cash, Diana Taurasi, Tina Charles, Maya Moore, Stefanie Dolson, Bria Hartley and Breanna Stewart. These players have won many awards, like the Naismith College Player of the Year and NCAA basketball tournament Most Outstanding Player awards. UConn also proudly notes that almost every recruited freshman who finished their time at UConn has graduated with a degree.
When UConn is ranked as the #1 team in the nation, they have an amazing record of 186 wins and only 10 losses under Auriemma. He won his 600th game on New Year's Eve 2006, reaching this milestone faster than almost any other women's basketball coach. He won his 700th game in 2009, becoming the fastest coach in college basketball history (men's or women's) to reach that many wins. He also reached 800 wins in 2012 and 900 wins in 2015 faster than any other college coach. Auriemma reached his 1,200th career win in February 2024.
Rivalries with Other Coaches
Geno Auriemma had a famous rivalry with Pat Summitt, the coach of the University of Tennessee Lady Vols. They often disagreed, especially when it came to recruiting players. In 2007, Summitt even stopped the yearly game between their two teams. However, after Summitt announced she had Alzheimer's disease in 2011, they became friends again. Auriemma even gave money to Summitt's Alzheimer's foundation.
Auriemma also had a rivalry with former UConn men's basketball coach Jim Calhoun. Even though they didn't always get along, they are the only coaches at the same Division I school to win both the men's and women's NCAA Tournaments in the same season.
Coaching the U.S. National Team
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In 2001, Auriemma was chosen to coach the U.S. women's team for the Junior World Championship. His team won five games in a row and earned a bronze medal.
Later, Auriemma was named head coach of the main U.S. women's national team. He led them in the 2010 World Championships and the 2012 Olympics. Even with little practice time, his team won their first game against Greece by 26 points. They continued to win by large margins. In the championship game against the Czech Republic, Team USA won the gold medal.
At the 2012 Olympics, Auriemma's team won all eight of their games. They won the gold medal game against France 86–50. Their closest game was a 86–73 win against Australia in the semi-finals.
Auriemma coached the U.S. women's team again for the 2014 FIBA World Championship for Women and the 2016 Summer Olympics. In the 2014 World Championship, his team won all six games and took home the gold medal. They outscored their opponents by almost 30 points per game on average.
Other Activities and Interests
When college basketball is not in season, Geno Auriemma works as a TV analyst for games of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) on ESPN. He often shares his thoughts on his former players.
Auriemma is good friends with former Saint Joseph's University basketball coach Phil Martelli. Geno's son, Mike Auriemma, even played basketball at Saint Joseph's.
Auriemma also helps with important causes. He is on the board of directors for the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund. He is also on the board of directors at Connecticut Children's Foundation, Inc. Every year, he hosts charity events called "Geno for the Kids" to raise money for Connecticut Children's Medical Center.
Because he loves his Italian background and Italian food, Auriemma has created his own lines of wines and sauces. He also owns several restaurants in Connecticut.
Awards and Honors
Geno Auriemma has received many awards and honors throughout his coaching career. Some of the most important ones include:
- 1989: Big East Conference Coach of the Year
- 1995: USBWA National Coach of the Year, Naismith College Coach of the Year, Associated Press College Basketball Coach of the Year, Big East Conference Coach of the Year
- 1997: WBCA National Coach of the Year, Naismith College Coach of the Year, Associated Press College Basketball Coach of the Year, Big East Conference Coach of the Year
- 2000: WBCA National Coach of the Year, Naismith College Coach of the Year, Associated Press College Basketball Coach of the Year, Big East Conference Coach of the Year
- 2002: WBCA National Coach of the Year, Naismith College Coach of the Year, Big East Conference Coach of the Year
- 2003: USBWA National Coach of the Year, Associated Press College Basketball Coach of the Year, Big East Conference Coach of the Year
- 2006: Inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame
- 2007: Inducted into the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame
- 2008: USBWA National Coach of the Year, WBCA National Coach of the Year, Naismith College Coach of the Year, Associated Press College Basketball Coach of the Year, Big East Conference Coach of the Year
- 2009: USBWA National Coach of the Year, WBCA National Coach of the Year, Naismith College Coach of the Year, Associated Press College Basketball Coach of the Year, Big East Conference Coach of the Year
- 2010: Big East Conference Coach of the Year
- 2011: Associated Press College Basketball Coach of the Year, Big East Conference Coach of the Year
- 2012: John R. Wooden Legends of Coaching Award
- 2014: American Athletic Conference Coach of the Year
- 2015: American Athletic Conference Coach of the Year
- 2016: USBWA National Coach of the Year, WBCA National Coach of the Year, Naismith College Coach of the Year, Associated Press College Basketball Coach of the Year, American Athletic Conference Coach of the Year
- 2017: USBWA National Coach of the Year, WBCA National Coach of the Year, Naismith College Coach of the Year, Associated Press College Basketball Coach of the Year, American Athletic Conference Coach of the Year
- 2019: American Athletic Conference Coach of the Year
- 2020: American Athletic Conference Coach of the Year, Great Immigrants Award
- 2021: Big East Conference Coach of the Year
- 2024: Big East Conference Coach of the Year
Records and Achievements
Geno Auriemma holds many impressive records in college basketball:
- Most wins among NCAA basketball coaches (1,217 wins), for any level, men's or women's.
- Highest winning percentage among NCAA basketball coaches (minimum 10 seasons), for any level, men's or women's.
- Most NCAA Division I Championships (11).
- Most NCAA Division I Final Fours (23).
- Most NCAA Division I Elite Eights (28).
- Most NCAA Division I Sweet Sixteens (31).
- Most NCAA Division I Tournament wins (137).
- He was the fastest coach to reach 800, 900, 1,000, 1,100, and 1,200 wins, at any level, for men's or women's basketball.
- He is one of only three coaches at the same Division I school (with Jim Calhoun and Kevin Ollie) to win both the men's and women's NCAA Tournaments in the same season.
Images for kids
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Auriemma in 2023
See also
In Spanish: Geno Auriemma para niños
- List of college women's basketball career coaching wins leaders
