The NY Post Article

[RockyMTblue2]

In the news links today. The best read of the bunch. Long interview style article with Geno.

"So my motivational thing is, “You came here and you knew what to expect. So now you’re going to do things exactly the way we want them done. Every day.”

And you know that is true. What might have come as a surprise to early players is now the thing of legend. Now I am flabbergasted when a recruit leaves the program over coaching. Thankfully a rarity.

Geno Auriemma on UConn’s success and being forgotten by John Wooden | New York Post

And why is he still at UConn?
"Nobody wanted me (laugh). We won the Big East Championship my fourth year. My sixth year we went to the Final Four. And I’m thinking, “All right, just sit back, answer the phone and take your pick of which big job you want.”

And a funny thing happened — the phone never rang. I’m like, “S–t, I’m stuck at Connecticut.” And 32 years later, here I am (laugh)."

 

[bags27]

GREAT ARTICLE! thanks so much, Rocky.

Did we know this before?

Q: Most bitter defeat.

A: 2001 in the Final Four. We’re up like 13 or 14 against Notre Dame at halftime. And I lost my composure in the locker room, and I was bitching and moaning about this and that and the other thing. And our players kind of reacted not the way I wanted them to. That’s one that will always bother me.

and of all the terrific stuff, I found this the most revealing (and in a sense, lonely):

Q: Were you rooting for Villanova the night they upset Georgetown?

A: I was raised in Philly, yeah, absolutely. But I never root for the underdog anymore.

Q: But you are the classic underdog.

A: I am. But now, I’m the top dog. We’re never the underdog. We never go into a game that we’re not the favorite. So I always root for the big favorites because I know how hard it is to be in that situation.

 

[rbny1]

Thanks, Rocky. A wonderfully entertaining interview, overflowing with Geno's irreverence, wit and insight.

 

[Bronxjeff]

Thank you for highlighting this article. I had skipped it because I inferred from the headline that it was just a rehash of the Wooden forgot meeting Geno anecdote. It is a great interview with very interesting new material.

 

[oldude]

You can't help but wonder what would have happened if the phone rang during those 1st 4-6 seasons, with a call from a big name university looking for a head WBB coach: no 11 championships, no winning streaks, NO BONEYARD? Fortunately for all of us, UConn has Geno and they don't.

 

[nyfanofwbb]

There's been a lot of different shows showing snippets of interviews that were interesting. Especially when it comes to his mother where he quotes her as telling him to take care of himself b bla bla bla and to stop yelling at the girls!