Geno Auriemma
Encyclopedia
Luigi "Geno" Auriemma is the head coach
of the University of Connecticut
Huskies
women's basketball team
, which he has led to seven National Collegiate Athletic Association
Division I national championships
(in 1995, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2009, and 2010). He has won six national Naismith College Coach of the Year
awards.
He emigrated with his family to Norristown, Pennsylvania
when he was seven years old, and spent the rest of his childhood there. After graduating from West Chester University of Pennsylvania
in 1977, Auriemma was hired as an assistant coach at Saint Joseph's University
, where he worked in 1978 and 1979. He then took a two-year absence from college basketball
, serving as an assistant coach at his former high school, Bishop Kenrick
, before assuming an assistant coaching position with the University of Virginia
Cavaliers
in 1981. Auriemma became a naturalized United States citizen in 1994, noting in his autobiography that he finally decided to naturalize when his UConn team was slated to tour Italy that summer and he was concerned about potential problems because he had never done any required national service.
For many years, Auriemma and his wife maintained a home Avalon, New Jersey
, to be near their respective parents in the Philadelphia area.
Connecticut quickly rose to prominence after Auriemma was hired in August 1985: they finished 12–15 in Auriemma's first season, his only losing season at Connecticut. Since then, Connecticut has finished above .500 for 24 consecutive seasons, including four undefeated seasons (1994–95, 2001–02, 2008–09, and 2009–10) and at least 2 NCAA record streaks of 90 and 70 consecutive wins. On 12/21/2010, UConn under Auriemma surpassed the UCLA men's team as holders of the all-time NCAA consecutive wins record at 89. At end of the 2009–2010 season, Auriemma's record as a head coach was 735-122, for an .858 winning percentage. That winning percentage is the highest among Division I active coaches. His career in Storrs also includes 15 seasons with 30 or more wins. UConn has won 7 National Championships under Auriemma (1995, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2009, and 2010) and made the Final Four 12 times (1991, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011). Auriemma has also guided UConn to 15 Big East regular season titles and 14 Big East Tournament titles.
The team has been especially successful on its home court
in the Harry A. Gampel Pavilion
in Storrs
, Connecticut
; they tied an NCAA women's basketball record with 69 consecutive home wins
between 2000 and 2003. That record was broken in 2011. The last home loss was to Villanova in the game that ended their 70 game winning streak. Moreover, between Auriemma's arrival and the close of the 2005 season, UCONN won 295 games versus just 31 losses. At Gampel, the team has set Big East Conference
records for both single-game and season-long attendance
.
Auriemma is also known for cultivating individual players, and the Ten multiple-All-America
players—Rebecca Lobo
, Jennifer Rizzotti
, Kara Wolters
, Nykesha Sales
, Svetlana Abrosimova
, Sue Bird
, Swin Cash
, Diana Taurasi
, Tina Charles
and Maya Moore
—whom Auriemma has coached have combined to win six Naismith College Player of the Year
awards, six Wade Trophies
, and seven NCAA Basketball Tournament Most Outstanding Player
awards. (The UConn athletics website also notes that, through 2006–07, every recruited freshman who has finished her eligibility at Storrs has graduated with a degree.)
The rivalry
between the Huskies and the University of Tennessee
Lady Vols
has extended to Auriemma's relationship with Volunteers counterpart Pat Summitt
; the two, through print and broadcast media, are often at odds. At the end of the 2009–2010 season, Auriemma had slightly surpassed Summitt among active Division I coaches for career winning percentage, with Auriemma at .858 and Summitt at .841. Summitt has one more National Championship than Auriemma, however. Rumors of tension between Auriemma and men's basketball coach Jim Calhoun
were widely circulated, but the two apparently reconciled after the teams won national championships, on consecutive nights, in 2004.
Pat Summitt declined to continue the yearly game in June, 2007, to the disappointment of Women's College Basketball fans, but the prospect of NCAA matchups between UConn and Tennessee will keep the rivalry alive.
Since achieving its 1st #1 ranking in the 1994–1995 season, UConn under Auriemma is 186-10 when playing as the nation's #1 team. As of the end of the 2009-2010 season, he had a record of 127-52 against top 25 opponents and a 57-35 record against top 10 opponents. He won his 600th game on New Year's Eve 2006, accomplishing the feat in 716 games, tying him with Phillip Kahler for the fastest women's basketball coach to reach that milestone. Auriemma won his 700th game on Black Friday (shopping day after U.S. Thanksgiving) November 27, 2009 in just 822 total games becoming the fastest head coach to that milestone in the history of college basketball at any level men or women. He is now one of 8 active women's college basketball coaches to currently have 700 or more wins. Auriemma was a member of the inaugural class (2006) of inductees to the University of Connecticut women's basketball "Huskies of Honor" recognition program.
in Springfield
, Massachusetts
, and the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame
in Knoxville
, Tennessee
.
During the college basketball offseason, Auriemma serves as an analyst
for games of the Women's National Basketball Association
broadcast on the American cable television
network
s ESPN
and ESPN2
, in which capacity he often critiques his former players. http://www.wnba.com/playoffs2005/taurasi_050918_06.html
In November 2007, Auriemma was inducted into the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame, in a class that included Dick Vermeil
, Mike Scioscia
, Fred Couples
, and others.
Auriemma is close friends with Saint Joseph's University
basketball head coach Phil Martelli
and his son, Mike Auriemma, attended and played basketball at Saint Joseph's.
Auriemma was named the USBWA National Coach of the Year in 1995, 2003, 2008 and 2009 by the United States Basketball Writers Association
.
Auriemma served as an assistant coach to the gold medalist 2000 U.S. Olympic Team. On April 15, 2009 he was selected to lead USA Basketball Women's National Team in the 2010 FIBA World Championship in the Czech Republic and if the USA qualifies, he will coach the team in the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London, England.
Auriemma is a member of the Board of Directors of the Kay Yow
/WBCA Cancer Fund.
Auriemma was named one of the 2010 co-winners of the Big East Conference Coach of the Year, an honor he shared with Mike Carey of West Virginia University.
Auriemma won the Big East Conference Coach of the Year award for 2011. He was the outright winner this year. This is the fourth consecutive year he has won the award; in the prior three seasons he was a co-winner.
Auriemma's 7 national championships is second to Pat Summitt's
8.
There have only been 6 undefeated seasons in NCAA women's college basketball. Auriemma holds 4 of these seasons (1995, 2002, 2009, 2010).
Auriemma was the quickest women's coach to reach 500 wins, doing so in his 18th season.
Auriemma set a record of 5 consecutive trips to the Final Four.
Auriemma's 2008-2010 teams broke a record for consecutive games won in college basketball with 90, beginning after a loss to Stanford
on April 6, 2008 and ending with a loss to Stanford on December 30, 2010. They topped the mark set by his 2001-03 team who had won 70 straight.
Head coach
A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches...
of the University of Connecticut
University of Connecticut
The admission rate to the University of Connecticut is about 50% and has been steadily decreasing, with about 28,000 prospective students applying for admission to the freshman class in recent years. Approximately 40,000 prospective students tour the main campus in Storrs annually...
Huskies
Connecticut Huskies
The Connecticut Huskies, also known as the UConn Huskies, are the athletic teams of the University of Connecticut in the United States. The school is a member of National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I and the Big East Conference for all sports except Men's Ice Hockey and Women's Ice...
women's basketball team
Connecticut Huskies women's basketball
The Connecticut Huskies women's basketball team represents the University of Connecticut in Storrs, Connecticut in NCAA women's basketball competition. Under head coach Geno Auriemma, the Huskies have won 7 NCAA Division I national championships, advanced to 12 Final Fours, and won over 30 Big...
, which he has led to seven National Collegiate Athletic Association
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
Division I national championships
NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship
The NCAA Women's Division I Championship is an annual college basketball tournament for women. Held each April, the Women's Championship was inaugurated in the 1981–82 season...
(in 1995, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2009, and 2010). He has won six national Naismith College Coach of the Year
Naismith College Coach of the Year
Naismith College Coach of the Year Award is an award given by the Atlanta Tipoff Club to one men's and one women's NCAA Division I collegiate coach each season since 1987...
awards.
He emigrated with his family to Norristown, Pennsylvania
Norristown, Pennsylvania
Norristown is a municipality in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, northwest of the city limits of Philadelphia, on the Schuylkill River. The population was 34,324 as of the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Montgomery County...
when he was seven years old, and spent the rest of his childhood there. After graduating from West Chester University of Pennsylvania
West Chester University of Pennsylvania
West Chester University of Pennsylvania is a public university located in West Chester, Pennsylvania, about miles west of Philadelphia. It is one of the 14 state universities of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education . West Chester was ranked 69th in the Master's Universities ...
in 1977, Auriemma was hired as an assistant coach at Saint Joseph's University
Saint Joseph's University
Saint Joseph's University is a private, coeducational Roman Catholic Jesuit university located partially in the Wynnefield section of Philadelphia and partially in Lower Merion Township and located in the Pennsylvania Main Line, Pennsylvania, United States.The school was founded in 1851 as Saint...
, where he worked in 1978 and 1979. He then took a two-year absence from college basketball
College basketball
College basketball most often refers to the USA basketball competitive governance structure established by the National Collegiate Athletic Association . Basketball in the NCAA is divided into three divisions: Division I, Division II and Division III....
, serving as an assistant coach at his former high school, Bishop Kenrick
Kennedy-Kenrick Catholic High School
Kennedy-Kenrick Catholic High School was a private, Roman Catholic high school in Norristown, Pennsylvania, United States, and was located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia.-Background:...
, before assuming an assistant coaching position with the University of Virginia
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...
Cavaliers
Virginia Cavaliers
The Virginia Cavaliers, also known as Wahoos or Hoos, are the athletic teams officially representing the University of Virginia in college sports. The Cavaliers compete in 25 NCAA Division I varsity sports and are members of the Atlantic Coast Conference...
in 1981. Auriemma became a naturalized United States citizen in 1994, noting in his autobiography that he finally decided to naturalize when his UConn team was slated to tour Italy that summer and he was concerned about potential problems because he had never done any required national service.
For many years, Auriemma and his wife maintained a home Avalon, New Jersey
Avalon, New Jersey
As of April 2009, the average home sales price in Avalon was $1,567,662 .As of the census of 2000, there were 2,143 people, 1,045 households, and 668 families residing in the borough. The population density was 508.4 people per square mile...
, to be near their respective parents in the Philadelphia area.
UConn career
Before Auriemma, the Huskies had posted just one winning season in their entire history. As was true at many schools at the time, Connecticut did not have a strong commitment to women's sports. Both players and coaches had to scrape for facilities and resources. Eventually, some students wishing to form a soccer team threatened to sue the university. The Trustees went on record supporting women's sports, and the administration decided to provide more support, especially for sports with a potential for revenue, such as women's basketball. The decision to hire a new coach was part of this commitment to strengthen the women's sports at Connecticut. Auriemma was the last of a series of interviews conducted by the search staff. Most of the other candidates were highly qualified coaches, and most were female. Ironically, one of those included in the interview process was Chris Dailey, who would become Auriemma's assistant, and is currently the Associate Head Coach at UConn. Dailey was identified as the candidate likely to receive an offer if Auriemma turned down the offer.Connecticut quickly rose to prominence after Auriemma was hired in August 1985: they finished 12–15 in Auriemma's first season, his only losing season at Connecticut. Since then, Connecticut has finished above .500 for 24 consecutive seasons, including four undefeated seasons (1994–95, 2001–02, 2008–09, and 2009–10) and at least 2 NCAA record streaks of 90 and 70 consecutive wins. On 12/21/2010, UConn under Auriemma surpassed the UCLA men's team as holders of the all-time NCAA consecutive wins record at 89. At end of the 2009–2010 season, Auriemma's record as a head coach was 735-122, for an .858 winning percentage. That winning percentage is the highest among Division I active coaches. His career in Storrs also includes 15 seasons with 30 or more wins. UConn has won 7 National Championships under Auriemma (1995, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2009, and 2010) and made the Final Four 12 times (1991, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011). Auriemma has also guided UConn to 15 Big East regular season titles and 14 Big East Tournament titles.
The team has been especially successful on its home court
Home Field Advantage
Home Field Advantage is a 2000 independent film starring Tony Award-winning actor Dan Fogler in the role of Charlie....
in the Harry A. Gampel Pavilion
Harry A. Gampel Pavilion
Harry A. Gampel Pavilion is a 10,167-seat multi-purpose arena in Storrs, Connecticut, United States. The arena opened on January 21, 1990, and is the largest on campus arena in New England. It was named after Harry A. Gampel, who donated one million dollars for the construction of the arena...
in Storrs
Storrs, Connecticut
Storrs is a census-designated place and part of the town of Mansfield, Connecticut located in eastern Tolland County. The population was 10,996 at the 2000 census...
, Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
; they tied an NCAA women's basketball record with 69 consecutive home wins
Winning streak
Winning streak may refer to:*Winning Streak, a long-running Irish television game show**Winning Streak: Dream Ticket, a more modern version*Winning Streak , a 1970s American television game show...
between 2000 and 2003. That record was broken in 2011. The last home loss was to Villanova in the game that ended their 70 game winning streak. Moreover, between Auriemma's arrival and the close of the 2005 season, UCONN won 295 games versus just 31 losses. At Gampel, the team has set Big East Conference
Big East Conference
The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletics conference consisting of sixteen universities in the eastern half of the United States. The conference's 17 members participate in 24 NCAA sports...
records for both single-game and season-long attendance
Seating capacity
Seating capacity refers to the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, both in terms of the physical space available, and in terms of limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that seats two to a stadium that seats...
.
Auriemma is also known for cultivating individual players, and the Ten multiple-All-America
All-America
An All-America team is an honorary sports team composed of outstanding amateur players—those considered the best players of a specific season for each team position—who in turn are given the honorific "All-America" and typically referred to as "All-American athletes", or simply...
players—Rebecca Lobo
Rebecca Lobo
Rebecca Rose Lobo-Rushin is an American television basketball analyst and a former player in the professional Women's National Basketball Association from 1997 to 2003...
, Jennifer Rizzotti
Jennifer Rizzotti
Jennifer Rizzotti is a retired American collegiate and professional basketball player, and current Division I coach. She is the daughter of Tom Rizzotti and Carol Rizzotti.-College:...
, Kara Wolters
Kara Wolters
Kara Wolters is a retired American collegiate and professional basketball player.Standing at six feet and seven inches , she was appropriately nicknamed "Big Girl". She is the tallest player in University of Connecticut women's basketball history and one of the tallest women to ever play in the WNBA...
, Nykesha Sales
Nykesha Sales
Nykesha Simone Sales is a former professional basketball player in the WNBA, most recently for the Connecticut Sun. Her primary position is the small forward. Her second position is shooting guard. In 1999 Sales was added to the roster of the USA FIBA Senior National Team team...
, Svetlana Abrosimova
Svetlana Abrosimova
Svetlana Olegovna Abrosimova is a Russian basketball player who has played in college, the Olympics, and in professional leagues. She currently plays for the Seattle Storm in the WNBA. She is usually called by her nickname, "Svet" or "Sveta".Abrosimova was born in Leningrad, Russian SFSR,...
, Sue Bird
Sue Bird
Suzanne Brigit "Sue" Bird is an American professional women's basketball player for the Seattle Storm and WBC Spartak Moscow Region....
, Swin Cash
Swin Cash
Swintayla Marie Cash , better known as Swin Cash, is an American WNBA player who plays for the Seattle Storm. A prolific scorer and rebounder, as well as a capable ball handler and defender, she helped lead the University of Connecticut women's basketball team to national titles in 2000 and 2002...
, Diana Taurasi
Diana Taurasi
Diana Lorena Taurasi is a professional basketball player who plays for the Phoenix Mercury in the WNBA and Galatasaray Medical Park from Turkey...
, Tina Charles
Tina Charles (basketball)
Tina Charles is an American women's basketball player with the Connecticut Sun of the Women's National Basketball Association and the Galatasaray Medical Park of the TWBL. Originally from Jamaica, New York, Charles was drafted 1st overall in the 2010 WNBA Draft...
and Maya Moore
Maya Moore
Maya April Moore is an American basketball forward for the Minnesota Lynx of the WNBA and Ros Casares Valencia of Euroleague. Moore was the winner of the 2006 and 2007 Naismith Prep Player of the Year. She was selected as the John Wooden Award winner in 2009 after leading Connecticut to the...
—whom Auriemma has coached have combined to win six Naismith College Player of the Year
Naismith College Player of the Year
The Naismith College Player of the Year is an annual basketball award given by the Atlanta Tipoff Club to the top men's and women's collegiate basketball players. It is named in honor of the inventor of basketball , Dr. James Naismith....
awards, six Wade Trophies
Wade Trophy
The Wade Trophy is an award presented annually to the best women's basketball player in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I competition. It is named after three–time national champion Delta State University coach Lily Margaret Wade. The award debuted in 1978 as the first–ever...
, and seven NCAA Basketball Tournament Most Outstanding Player
NCAA Basketball Tournament Most Outstanding Player
At the conclusion of the NCAA men's and women's Division I basketball championships , the Associated Press selects a Most Outstanding Player. The MOP need not be, but almost always is a member of the Championship team, especially since the third place game was eliminated after 1981...
awards. (The UConn athletics website also notes that, through 2006–07, every recruited freshman who has finished her eligibility at Storrs has graduated with a degree.)
The rivalry
UConn-Tennessee rivalry
The women's basketball rivalry between the University of Tennessee Lady Vols and the University of Connecticut Huskies is one of the fiercest rivalries in college basketball, and perhaps the only one to reach national consciousness out of the women's game...
between the Huskies and the University of Tennessee
University of Tennessee
The University of Tennessee is a public land-grant university headquartered at Knoxville, Tennessee, United States...
Lady Vols
Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball
The Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball team represents the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee in NCAA women's basketball competition...
has extended to Auriemma's relationship with Volunteers counterpart Pat Summitt
Pat Summitt
Patricia "Pat" Head Summitt is an American women's college basketball coach. She is currently the head coach of the Tennessee Lady Vols basketball team. She is the all-time winningest coach in NCAA basketball history of either a men's or women's team in any division...
; the two, through print and broadcast media, are often at odds. At the end of the 2009–2010 season, Auriemma had slightly surpassed Summitt among active Division I coaches for career winning percentage, with Auriemma at .858 and Summitt at .841. Summitt has one more National Championship than Auriemma, however. Rumors of tension between Auriemma and men's basketball coach Jim Calhoun
Jim Calhoun
James A. Calhoun is the head coach of the University of Connecticut's men's basketball team. His teams have won three national championships , played in four Final Fours , won the 1988 NIT championship, and have won seven Big East tournament championships...
were widely circulated, but the two apparently reconciled after the teams won national championships, on consecutive nights, in 2004.
Pat Summitt declined to continue the yearly game in June, 2007, to the disappointment of Women's College Basketball fans, but the prospect of NCAA matchups between UConn and Tennessee will keep the rivalry alive.
Since achieving its 1st #1 ranking in the 1994–1995 season, UConn under Auriemma is 186-10 when playing as the nation's #1 team. As of the end of the 2009-2010 season, he had a record of 127-52 against top 25 opponents and a 57-35 record against top 10 opponents. He won his 600th game on New Year's Eve 2006, accomplishing the feat in 716 games, tying him with Phillip Kahler for the fastest women's basketball coach to reach that milestone. Auriemma won his 700th game on Black Friday (shopping day after U.S. Thanksgiving) November 27, 2009 in just 822 total games becoming the fastest head coach to that milestone in the history of college basketball at any level men or women. He is now one of 8 active women's college basketball coaches to currently have 700 or more wins. Auriemma was a member of the inaugural class (2006) of inductees to the University of Connecticut women's basketball "Huskies of Honor" recognition program.
Head coaching record
-*Season in progressHonors and other activities
In 2006, Auriemma was inducted into the Basketball Hall of FameBasketball Hall of Fame
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, located in Springfield, Massachusetts, United States, honors exceptional basketball players, coaches, referees, executives, and other major contributors to the game of basketball worldwide...
in Springfield
Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield is the most populous city in Western New England, and the seat of Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers; the western Westfield River, the eastern Chicopee River, and the eastern...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, and the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame
Women's Basketball Hall of Fame
The Women's Basketball Hall of Fame honors men and women who have contributed to the sport of women's basketball. The Hall of Fame opened in 1999 in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA...
in Knoxville
Knoxville, Tennessee
Founded in 1786, Knoxville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Tennessee, U.S.A., behind Memphis and Nashville, and is the county seat of Knox County. It is the largest city in East Tennessee, and the second-largest city in the Appalachia region...
, Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
.
During the college basketball offseason, Auriemma serves as an analyst
Color commentator
A color commentator is a sports commentator who assists the play-by-play announcer, often by filling in any time when play is not in progress. The color analyst and main commentator will often exchange comments freely throughout the broadcast, when the play-by-play announcer is not describing the...
for games of the Women's National Basketball Association
Women's National Basketball Association
The Women's National Basketball Association is a women's professional basketball league in the United States. It currently is composed of twelve teams. The league was founded on April 24, 1996 as the women's counterpart to the National Basketball Association...
broadcast on the American cable television
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
network
Television network
A television network is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, whereby a central operation provides programming to many television stations or pay TV providers. Until the mid-1980s, television programming in most countries of the world was dominated by a small...
s ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
and ESPN2
ESPN2
ESPN2 is an American sports cable television network owned by ESPN. The channel debuted on October 1, 1993.Originally nicknamed "the deuce," ESPN2 was initially branded as a network for a younger generation of sports fans featuring edgier graphics as well as extreme sports like motocross,...
, in which capacity he often critiques his former players. http://www.wnba.com/playoffs2005/taurasi_050918_06.html
In November 2007, Auriemma was inducted into the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame, in a class that included Dick Vermeil
Dick Vermeil
Richard Albert "Dick" Vermeil is a former American head coach for the National Football League's Philadelphia Eagles , St. Louis Rams and Kansas City Chiefs...
, Mike Scioscia
Mike Scioscia
Michael Lorri Scioscia is a former Major League Baseball catcher and current manager for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. He has worked in that capacity since the 2000 season, and is the longest-tenured manager in Major League Baseball....
, Fred Couples
Fred Couples
Frederick Steven Couples is an American professional golfer who competes on the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour. A former World No. 1, he has won numerous events, most notably the 1992 Masters Tournament. In August 2011 he won his maiden senior major at the Senior Players Championship...
, and others.
Auriemma is close friends with Saint Joseph's University
Saint Joseph's University
Saint Joseph's University is a private, coeducational Roman Catholic Jesuit university located partially in the Wynnefield section of Philadelphia and partially in Lower Merion Township and located in the Pennsylvania Main Line, Pennsylvania, United States.The school was founded in 1851 as Saint...
basketball head coach Phil Martelli
Phil Martelli
Phil Martelli is an American college basketball coach and current coach of the Saint Joseph's Hawks men's basketball team. He maintains an impressive resume, having led Saint Joseph's to five NCAA Tournaments and four NITs. He has averaged 20 wins per season in his thirteen years with the...
and his son, Mike Auriemma, attended and played basketball at Saint Joseph's.
Auriemma was named the USBWA National Coach of the Year in 1995, 2003, 2008 and 2009 by the United States Basketball Writers Association
United States Basketball Writers Association
The United States Basketball Writers Association was founded in 1956 by Walter Byers and serves the interests of journalists who cover college basketball.-Scholarships:...
.
Auriemma served as an assistant coach to the gold medalist 2000 U.S. Olympic Team. On April 15, 2009 he was selected to lead USA Basketball Women's National Team in the 2010 FIBA World Championship in the Czech Republic and if the USA qualifies, he will coach the team in the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London, England.
Auriemma is a member of the Board of Directors of the Kay Yow
Kay Yow
Sandra Kay Yow was an American basketball coach. She was the head coach of the NC State Wolfpack women's basketball team from 1975 to 2009. A member of the Naismith Hall of Fame, she had more than 700 career wins. She also coached the U.S...
/WBCA Cancer Fund.
Auriemma was named one of the 2010 co-winners of the Big East Conference Coach of the Year, an honor he shared with Mike Carey of West Virginia University.
Auriemma won the Big East Conference Coach of the Year award for 2011. He was the outright winner this year. This is the fourth consecutive year he has won the award; in the prior three seasons he was a co-winner.
Records
Auriemma is the leader among active coaches in winning percentage at .861.Auriemma's 7 national championships is second to Pat Summitt's
Pat Summitt
Patricia "Pat" Head Summitt is an American women's college basketball coach. She is currently the head coach of the Tennessee Lady Vols basketball team. She is the all-time winningest coach in NCAA basketball history of either a men's or women's team in any division...
8.
There have only been 6 undefeated seasons in NCAA women's college basketball. Auriemma holds 4 of these seasons (1995, 2002, 2009, 2010).
Auriemma was the quickest women's coach to reach 500 wins, doing so in his 18th season.
Auriemma set a record of 5 consecutive trips to the Final Four.
Auriemma's 2008-2010 teams broke a record for consecutive games won in college basketball with 90, beginning after a loss to Stanford
Stanford Cardinal women's basketball
The Stanford Cardinal women's basketball team represents Stanford University, located in Stanford, California. The school's team currently competes in the Pacific-12 Conference and are coached by Tara VanDerveer, in her 25th season with the Cardinal...
on April 6, 2008 and ending with a loss to Stanford on December 30, 2010. They topped the mark set by his 2001-03 team who had won 70 straight.
External links
- Geno's Summer Basketball Program - The Connecticut Girls Basketball Camp
- University of Connecticut biography
- Women's Basketball Hall of Fame profile
- Basketball Hall of Fame induction announcement
- Basketball Hall of Fame profile
- Photos of Auriemma some of with his teams
- Los Angeles Times article on relationship with Calhoun