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GENO AURIEMMA

HEAD COACH OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT.

Geno Auriemma has redefined the meaning of success in college women’s basketball in his 21 years as head coach of the University of Connecticut.

During his illustrious tenure, Auriemma has transformed the UConn program into the standard that all others are measured, both on and off the court.

Under his guidance, the Huskies been transformed from a program with only one winning record to its credit to its current state, which includes five national championships, eight Final Fours and 27 BIG EAST titles since Auriemma’s arrival in 1985.

On the court, his success includes five national championships and complete dominance in the BIG EAST Conference. Off the court, success means a flawless graduation rate and one of the most beloved sports teams in the country.

This unmatched success, which is the standard for collegiate programs nationally, was recognized with Auriemma’s induction into both the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame (Springfield, Mass.) and the Women Basketball Hall of Fame (Knoxville, Tenn.) in 2006. He currently ranks among the winningest active coaches in terms of winning percentage at .835 and is the first coach in women’s basketball history to guide a team to five consecutive Final Four appearances. He enters the season needing just 11 wins to become the 13th coach in NCAA Division I history to total 600 career victories.

Auriemma is a five-time national coach-of-the-year and has been named the BIG EAST coach-of-the-year six times.

His 21-year overall record stands at 589-116 (.835), one of the best winning percentages among active Division I coaches and he is the second fastest coach overall to eclipse the 500-win mark – taking just 599 games to reach the milestone.

The Huskies consistency has been remarkable as the program has won either the BIG EAST Regular Season or Tournament title in each of the past 13 seasons and 16 of the past 18 overall.

The Huskies have won the BIG EAST Tournament crown in each of the past two years and extended their streak of consecutive NCAA Regional appearances to 13 seasons with its Elite Eight berth in 2006. Auriemma also guided UConn to its 11th 30-win season in 2006 and its 11th in the past 13 seasons.

The 2003-04 season was a historical one – even for the tradition-rich Connecticut program – as it became only the second program in NCAA history to win three consecutive national titles.

The road to their third straight title was a bumpy one at times for the Huskies, but with Auriemma’s leadership the team never wavered from achieving their ultimate goal, despite encountering a few detours along the way.

In 2003-04, the Huskies tied the NCAA-record for consecutive home court wins at 69 straight games and won the BIG EAST Regular Season Title for the 11th consecutive season. Senior standout Diana Taurasi was named Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four for the second consecutive season and was also honored as the Naismith National Player of the Year for the second time, in addition to being the recipient of the Honda Award and the Nancy Lieberman Award.

The 2002-03 season, despite a handful of newcomers, mirrored Auriemma teams of the past. The squad continued the program’s winning tradition by bringing home UConn’s fourth women’s basketball national championship, and also broke the NCAA Division I women’s record for most consecutive victories with 70-straight. Connecticut broke the previous record of 54 set by Louisiana Tech with its 55th-straight win on January 18, 2003, versus Georgetown in the Hartford Civic Center.

For the fourth time in UConn history, the Huskies finished the regular season undefeated with a perfect 29-0 record. They went on to capture UConn’s 10th straight BIG EAST regular season title, 13th overall, and continued their winning ways into the postseason making their seventh Final Four appearance.

After two competitive games in the Final Four, the Huskies earned their fourth NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship and became only the third school to do so in back-to-back years. Junior Diana Taurasi was named the 2003 Final Four Most Outstanding Player, while freshman Ann Strother was named to the Final Four All-Tournament team. It was the first time in women’s or men’s basketball history that a program earned the national championship without a senior on its roster.

Accolades for the 2002-03 season continued to pour in. Auriemma was named the BIG EAST Coach of the Year as well as the United States Basketball Writer’s Association (USBWA) Women’s Basketball Coach of the Year and Associated Press Coach of the Year. Taurasi garnered Player of the Year honors from the Associated Press, USBWA and Naismith and earned the Wade Trophy and the NCAA Honda Award for the nation’s most outstanding women’s basketball player. Taurasi earned her second straight Kodak All-American award and was named an Associated Press First Team All-American for her outstanding play and leadership during UConn’s 37-1 run through the 2002-03 championship season.

Auriemma’s 2001-02 squad recorded the second undefeated season in program history with a 39-0 mark and registered UConn’s third national championship and sixth Final Four appearance. Auriemma’s teams also won the 1995 and 2000 national titles.

Featuring Kodak All-Americans Sue Bird, Swin Cash and Diana Taurasi, the 2001-02 Huskies posted an NCAA record-tying 39 wins and a 35.4 average margin of victory, another NCAA record. His team also earned its 12th BIG EAST regular season title and 11th BIG EAST tournament crown as the Huskies made their 14th straight NCAA appearance.

The 1999-2000 national championship season included a then-school-record 19-straight weeks ranked No. 1 in the national polls and a final record of 36-1.

UConn captured the program’s first national title in 1994-95, when Auriemma led the Huskies to a perfect 35-0 record. UConn was only the second team in Division I women’s basketball history to go undefeated en route to the national championship. The Huskies became the first unbeaten team in NCAA history (all divisions, men or women) to win 35 games in a season. Under Auriemma’s direction, UConn ranked second nationally in Division I victories in the 1990’s (Jan. 1, 1990-Dec. 31, 1999) with 290 total wins. The Huskies were also second in the nation in total winning percentage (.860) in the decade as well as establishing a BIG EAST record for conference victories (158).

After inheriting a Husky program that had just one winning season in its 11-year history, Auriemma has posted 20 winning seasons since arriving at UConn in August of 1985. The Huskies also now hold every BIG EAST single-game and single-season home court attendance record.

Since 1988-89, the first season the Huskies earned a BIG EAST regular season championship, UConn ranks No. 1 among all BIG EAST teams in league regular season wins (274-29, a .904 winning percentage). Coupled with UConn’s 47-5 (.904) record in BIG EAST Tournament action since 1989.

The development of national caliber student-athletes has been Auriemma’s forte during his UConn coaching tenure. Every recruited freshman that has played for Auriemma at Connecticut and completed her eligibility at UConn has obtained her undergraduate degree. Impressively, since the 1991-92 season, 32 of UConn’s starters – 21 different players – have been on the Dean’s List.

Among these 17 players are four of the most highly acclaimed women’s basketball players ever – Rebecca Lobo, Jennifer Rizzotti, Kara Wolters and Sue Bird. All four of these student-athletes earned Associated Press National Player of the Year honors and won the Wade Trophy and Honda Broderick Awards. Most recently, Diana Taurasi joined the elite four by being named a consensus National Player of the Year in 2002-03.

Auriemma has coached 10 First Team Kodak All-Americans, with the most recent selections of Bird, Cash and Taurasi. This includes 11 consecutive seasons (1993-2004) where at least one UConn player earned Kodak All-America honors – a total of 18 honors, with Taurasi earning her third selection in 2004.

UConn’s home court record stands as one of the most impressive in the nation. In Auriemma’s tenure, UConn is 312-33 at home against collegiate opponents, including a 14-2 mark in 2005-06, for a sparkling .904 winning percentage.

By building such a dynamic program, Huskymania fan support and enthusiasm is at an all-time high. UConn was third nationally in total home attendance for all Division I women’s programs in 2005-06, attracting 223,503 fans for 19 home dates in Harry A. Gampel Pavilion and the Hartford Civic Center. The Huskies have boasted an advance sellout of nearly every game in Gampel Pavilion and the Hartford Civic Center dating back to November 1999. Prior to taking the UConn position, Auriemma served as the primary assistant women’s coach at the University of Virginia under head coach Debbie Ryan from 1981-85. He helped lead the Cavaliers to the Atlantic Coast Conference championship in 1984.

Before his Virginia position, Auriemma was assistant women’s basketball coach at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia with then-head coach Jim Foster (now Ohio State women’s basketball head coach). He also coached boys’ basketball at his high school alma mater, Bishop Kenrick High School in Norristown, Pa., from 1979-81.

Auriemma has found success even beyond the college coaching ranks due to his involvement with USA Basketball. In the summer of 2000, Auriemma represented the United States at the Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, as an assistant coach of the gold medal winning Olympic Team.

That same summer, Auriemma led the 2000 USA Women’s Basketball Junior World Championship team to a gold medal in the COPABA Junior World Cup Qualifying Tournament in Argentina. Auriemma and the squad advanced to the 2001 FIBA Junior World Championship for women held in the Czech Republic in July of 2001, and returned with the bronze. In April of 1996, he was co-head coach of the National Senior All-Stars when the All-Stars met the United States National Team.

During the summer of 1996, he served as coach of the USA Basketball Select Team in Colorado Springs, Colo. In January of 1995, Auriemma was named an assistant coach of the USA World University Games Women’s Basketball Team, which played in Fukuoka, Japan, in the summer of 1995; due to personal conflicts, however, he had to relinquish that position. He also served as head coach of the West Team at the 1993 U.S. Olympic Festival in San Antonio, Texas.

In the summer of 2002, Auriemma was selected as a member of the inaugural induction class to the New England Basketball Hall of Fame.

In addition to his coaching duties, Auriemma serves on several national basketball committees. He was a four-year member of the Kodak All-America Selection Committee and was named chair of that committee in January of 1992. He has also been a voting member of the USA TODAY/WBCA Top 25 Poll. He was recently named to the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Board of Directors.

Auriemma has also served as an analyst during ABC’s and ESPN’s coverage of the WNBA in each of the past three seasons.

An accomplished speaker, Auriemma also is involved in numerous regional and state charitable and educational efforts. For the last nine years, Auriemma has been the chair of Why-Me of New England, a fund-raising organization for breast cancer research, and also has served as the State of Connecticut honorary chair for the American Heart Association.

In the fall of 1993, Auriemma was elected into the National Mortar Board academic honor society for his outstanding contributions to UConn academics and for community service. Auriemma currently serves as co-chair of the Connecticut Arthritis Foundation. In May of 1994, Auriemma was awarded the prestigious UConn Club Outstanding Contribution Award for his service and commitment to Husky athletics.

In tribute to the Huskies’ first NCAA National Championship, and for his commitment to intercollegiate athletes and service in the community, Auriemma received two special awards in 1995.

He was one of four recipients of the 1995 Center for the Study of Sport in Society “National Student-Athlete Day Giant Steps Award”, presented in Boston. He was also honored with “Geno Auriemma Day” at the National Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass., on August 9, 1995.

Auriemma has given back to the university as well. In November 1998, he and his wife Kathy gave a $125,000 gift to the University of Connecticut Library. Auriemma is a 1981 graduate of West Chester with a B.A. in political science. He resides in Manchester, Conn., with Kathy and their three children: Jenna (23), Alyssa (21) and Michael (18).