GENO ARUIEMMA JUST KEEPS GOING ON

Geno Auriemma was back to his old self Thursday night. He actually praised his University of Connecticut women’s basketball team.

Before this, he wasn’t actually praising his 2020-21 edition. At halftime or post-game interviews, he kept a straight face, referring to a decent defensive effort, less turnovers, but also throwing in the notion that his team was the worst at 3s in the country, and the rebounding was just average.

Of course, he has the right to direct his comments anyway he wants.

This is year number 36 for him when he first applied for the position via word of mouth, through the grapevine, when he drove from Philadelphia to the campus in Storrs and looked for assistance, mainly to check in and check out what exists with this program. It was cold, windy and snow was falling when he finally located an athletic department assistant, and after explaining he was applying for the vacant position, the assistant told him he would drive him over to the gymnasium where the women played their initial season in 1985.

So they drove off campus, down a winding road and parked in front of a building. The assistant said this was the high school court they played in. The men played on campus, but not so for the women. Inside, it was ice cold, smelly, stuffy, and there was only one row of stands, a net was hanging loose from one basket, and two windows were broken. The assistant didn’t have to say, “This is it,” but he did say the team played 16 games and won two with 10 players on the roster.

So there’s 30-year-old Auriemma, a trillion miles from his birthplace in Monteclo, Italy, and approximately 300 miles from where he now lived in South Philadelphia. He left behind a low-paying assistant coaching job with St. Joseph’s men’s college basketball in Liberty City for what he hoped would be more pay and an upgrade in his career.

Yup, he was stranded. Yet, he drove back to campus with the assistant, signed a form that said he was interested in the position, and left his name, address, and home telephone number, and said if anyone called, they should just ask for him or leave a message. On the way home in his 1978 Plymouth, he almost ran out of gas, couldn’t find a place to eat, and wasn’t overall pleased with this round trip.

Oops, about a month went by when he got a call from a young lady named Chris Davis. She said she played high school and college ball in Connecticut, and then, despite no experience, coached the first UCONN’s women’s team. She said that because he was the only one who applied, she would like to be his assistant. He said he enjoyed speaking with her, that she had informed the athletic director she was going to call Coach Auriemma.

To Geno, it didn’t look like much, but when he later spoke with the athletic director, the basic pay sounded like a decent deal, and he was told the school was in the progress of bringing the women’s team to campus to play at Gampel Pavilion where the men played. What made it a done deal was the site was already there, and so the two agreed over the phone, and Auriemma received a return call from Davis that included, he said, at least “Thank you, Thank you” a half-dozen times.

She never left, she’s been with him through the 36 years since he accepted the job. She’s been with him through a record 11 NCAA champions that surpassed the 10 won by legendary UCLA men’s head coach John Wooden, through his eight Nesmith Coach of the Year Awards, through his eight years of coaching the championship National Women’s Teams. He cherishes her assistance, the players love her, as do the other assistants, and when he was hospitalized last season for hip surgery, she became head coach for two games, one in which the Huskies won to take over the No. 1 spot in the land.

Now the Auriemma-Davis tantrum has won 14 of 15 starts and at 13-0 in the Big East.

Before going back to the above  his “Old self’ return, his popularity in the Northeast state is overwhelming.

He could run for governor, mayor of Storrs, even school president. He and his wife Kathy have three children. They love it up there. They have a beautiful home a few miles from campus. He is a very recognizable figure at the popular university and anywhere around the state.

He never turns down interviews, has a daily television show, and except for these coronavirus pandemic times, his games always sell out, they are always broadcasted, televised, his former star-studded players attend most games, do pre- and post-game commentaries and no program has ever had more All-Americas or more players in the WNBA.

His success in the sport is remarkable. Since his first national title in 1995, he has not had a losing campaign, which is why he  can continuously brag or point out the negatives he finds. Heck, he first dominated the Big East, then the American Athletic Conference, and back in the Big East again, his teams have won 180-straight times, and that includes all these conference championships.

So now, as he prepares for Monday night‘s tough test against visiting top-ranked South Carolina, a non-conference tough tussle, his 2nd-ranked Huskies can again become top of the heap with a victory. They moved past previously undefeated Louisville after the No. 1 Cardinals lost to then-2nd-ranked North Carolina State in a recent ACC clash that followed the Wolfpack’s prior overtime defeat to unranked Virginia Tech.

And so on Thursday night in Milwaukee, Wisc., after his non-senior, 12-player roster clinched first place in the conference by dominating the second place,18th-ranked Lady Warriors, 87-58. At the half when his team went from a 16-13 lead to a 30-9 run and a 46-22 advantage, he was smiling, he was very happy by the way his young team performed. He said Marquette had only lost twice, was a high-scoring team, but that we held them to only 22 points after two quarters.

After the game he said, “We did everything right. We came off the Wednesday home game when we played with three starters sidelined, flew down here, and we came together as a team with 23 assists, back-door baskets, outside shooting that included 43 percent from 3-point range, and we ran the floor with precision as we prepared for Monday night against South Carolina”

He spread out the accolades, but of course singled out his super 5-foot-11 freshman point guard Paige Bueckers, who came away with her third-straight 30-point game, was 5-foot-7 from the three, engineered the offense, made five driving baskets from the same number of steals, two via reserve layups, and each time the Warriors doubled, tripled up on her, she found teammates for easy layups a total of eight times.

Said Auriemma about his fifth High School Player of the Year in six years: “Paige was just being Paige, and high school teams are no doubt happy that they don’t have to face her again. She continues to be exciting, she’s a true team leader, she can hit the 3 as other teams are finding out, and how about another freshman, Nika (Muhl), who couldn’t make a shot in her first four games, couldn’t do much in fact, and now she’s all over the place, making 3s, finding teammates, stealing the ball, pouncing on the floor for loose balls, and what did she have tonight, 12 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, and four steals.

“Another freshman, our 6-3 Canadian Aaliyah Edwards is a monster. She, too, is all over the place, inside, on defense, and she took the charge that bloodied her mouth like a player who had spent much time on the ice in Canada, and our 6-5 junior Olivia Nelson-Ododa, continues to toss in 3s, grab rebounds, and defend. She’s come a long way.”

After the easy win over visiting St. John’s, Auriemma said he finished the game with four freshmen and a high school senior when he also inserted 6-2 Saylor Poffenbarger, who, because there was no high school ball her season season because of the virus, graduated and spent her fourth game as a UConn Husky, and when she tossed in her first college basket, a 3, the bench erupted as it did when walk-on freshman Autumn Chassion did the same. And junior Christian Williams returned after an ankle injury  sidelined her for the St. John’s game, to score 22 that included 5-of-8 3s.

Thought I’d save this for last, but it’s not something UConn opponents would like to see. Next year, Auriemma brings in his next  high school Player of the Year, 5-11 guard Azzi Fudd from D.C., Massachusetts Player of the Year, 6-foot Carolina Duchame, and 6-5 Amari DeBerry from Maryland. And remember, the women don’t leave early for the WNBA. Once, 6-7 Player of the Year, Elena dela Dona, spent two days at UConn, and then took the bus home to Delaware because her older sister had a mental disability. And another Player of the Year, Megan Walker, opted for the WNBA after finishing her junior year in 2019.

Imagine, three Players of the Year would have started for the Huskies this season. Now Geno has seven freshmen, three sophomores, two juniors, no seniors, plays everybody, and doesn’t miss a beat. GTG (Geno the genus), how’s that sound?