USA TODAY
After four decades and more than a thousand games, Connecticut women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma now stands alone on top of the sport.
Auriemma became college basketball’s − men’s and women’s − winningest coach in history after the Huskies defeated Fairleigh Dickinson on Wednesday in front of a home crowd that celebrated the man responsible for building the most-dominant program in women’s basketball. It’s a remarkable achievement given he didn’t think it would ever happen, but it’s now another accolade that cements Auriemma as one of the greatest coaches of all sports.
With Auriemma reaching another basketball milestone, here are some of biggest numbers and accomplishments from his Basketball Hall of Fame career, and what’s next for the legendary coach.
1,217 wins
Auriemma became all-time leader wins with his 1,217 victory, passing recently retired Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer. However, what’s impressive is that Auriemma did it in much quicker fashion, needing only 40 seasons to do it compared to VanDerveer’s 45.
Auriemma only needing 40 seasons shows how successful he has been during his tenure. He only had one losing season − his first at Connecticut − and he has a .882 winning percentage, the best of the eight college basketball coaches with at least 1,000 wins.
11 national championships
The biggest mark of success, Auriemma has won 11 championships in his tenure, the most of any coach men’s or women’s. UConn won its first title in 1995 and it’s last in 2016, meaning during that stretch it won 11 of the 22 possible national championships.
During that stretch, the Huskies have one three-peat and women’s basketball’s only four-peat. When UConn makes the national championship game, it’s practically a lock for it to win; they are 11-0 in the title game.
23 Final Fours
For more than two decades, UConn has nearly been a shoe-in to make the Final Four with 23 appearances − the most in college basketball.
After sporadic appearances in 1991, 1995 and 1996, UConn went on long stretches with making the Final Four. It made five consecutive appearances from 2000-04, and an amazing 14 in a row from 2008-22 (excluding the canceled 2020 tournament). The Huskies also made last season’s Final Four.
6 perfect seasons
Six of those 11 national championships came with perfect seasons. They happened in:
- 1994-95: 35-0
- 2001-02: 39-0
- 2008-09: 39-0
- 2009-10: 39-0
- 2013-14: 40-0
- 2015-16: 38-0
111 consecutive wins
Auriemma owns the longest win streak in college basketball when his team won 111 straight games from 2014-17, a Division I record. The streak started on Nov. 23, 2014 and went all the way until they lost in the 2017 Final Four. During that streak, the Huskies won two national championships.
59 conference championships
Connecticut has been the class of the conference with 59 combined conference championships − 29 conference tournament and 30 regular-season titles. The Huskies have been in the Big East and American Athletic Conference under Auriemma, and an impressive feat was when UConn was in the American Athletic from 2013-20, it never lost a conference game.
Currently, the Huskies have won 11 consecutive conference tournament titles.
27 All-Americans
The first All-American under Auriemma was Rebecca Lobo in the 1994-95 season, and Huskies have continuously been among the top players in the country since then. What’s remarkable is of the 27 All-Americans selected by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association, 17 of them were multi-year selections. That includes Maya Moore-Irons, who was an All-American all four seasons.
5 WNBA No. 1 draft picks
The success in college led to five former Huskies becoming No. 1 picks in the WNBA draft, the most top selections of any school. They are:
- Sue Bird: 2002
- Diana Taurasi: 2004
- Tina Charles: 2010
- Maya Moore: 2011
- Breanna Stewart: 2016
Another one could be on the way next season with current Huskies guard Paige Bueckers expected to be the No. 1 pick in the 2025 draft.
45 WNBA draft picks
Including the No. 1 selections, 45 Huskies have been selected in the WNBA draft. From 2009 to 2020, at least one UConn player was selected in each draft.
2 Olympic gold medals
Outside of college ball, Auriemma was the head coach for Team USA in the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics. He achieved perfection in Olympic play with 8-0 records in each year en route to two gold medals. There have been 10 Connecticut women’s players that have played in the Olympics for the United States.
What’s next for Geno Auriemma?
Is there more for Auriemma to accomplish?
Earlier this year, the head coach didn’t think he’d ever break the wins record with VanDerveer ahead of him, but now he stands alone with more wins coming his way this season. He likely has a few more years as well to pile wins up after he signed a contract extension in June that keeps him in Storrs through the 2028-29 season.
The Huskies are again a favorite to reach the Final Four and contend for a national championship. If Auriemma is able to lock up championship No. 12, would he continue to coach, or could the 70-year-old leave the game on top of the sport?
“Really, what more is there for him to do?” Rebecca Lobo told USA TODAY Sports. “No one else is ever going to win 11 (championships). It’s not like he has to get 12 to prove himself. No one else is going to go to 23 Final Fours and definitely no team is ever winning 111 games again.
“But that’s not what it’s about. For him, it’s all about how can help these players experience these moments, how can I help them become better people and players?”
Contributing: Lindsay Schnell