As happy as I am for Paige, Kaitlyn, and Aubrey…

[HuskyNan]

…I’m very happy for Geno. He’s the GOAT (not the nonsensical “one of the GOATs”) and we all know it but it would have broken my heart if the golden years of his career ended in a kind of downward slide. How many times have we seen an athlete or coach try to continue their excellence too long and then sort of slide into mediocrity? Not Geno - he coached a heck of a tournament.

Congrats, Coach. You truly are The Greatest Of All Time.

 

[msf22b]

Not Geno - he coached a heck of a tournament

He coached a heck of a year
By the time we got to the regional
He had created a juggernaut.

 

[cancontent]

…I’m very happy for Geno. He’s the GOAT (not the nonsensical “one of the GOATs”) and we all know it but it would have broken my heart if the golden years of his career ended in a kind of downward slide. How many times have we seen an athlete or coach try to continue their excellence too long and then sort of slide into mediocrity? Not Geno - he coached a heck of a tournament.

Congrats, Coach. You truly are The Greatest Of All Time.

Agreed. What this championship also showed is that coaches can evolve with their players in this new age of college basketball.

There's been a lot said about the so called "old guard" not being able to handle this environment. Personally, I thought that theory was bunk and Coach Auriemma proved it.

 

[msf22b]

There's something extra special about Kaitlyn
with a legacy of being recruited from UConn's "minor leagues"
Spending an extra season with the "big club."
And making such a splendid contribution.
She will be missed.

 

[HuskyNan]

Not Geno - he coached a heck of a tournament

He coached a heck of a year
By the time we got to the regional
He had created a juggernaut.

I thought that two years ago, when he got a 6 player team to the Final Four was one of his greatest coaching jobs ever. A constantly changing roster due to injuries meant changing game plans on the fly. It was simply astonishing

 

[Hongster]

I don't always like his decision during the game but I couldn't agree more with you.

 

[Jonathan14]

Although there were some doubts here on the Boneyard ("what we really needed was another big!" or "we should have gotten another 'athlete'!"), one of Geno's craftiest moves might have been bringing in Kaitlyn Chen through the portal, providing us with steadiness at the point, scrappy defense, and poised leadership throughout the season. A great move from the GOAT.

 

[Vancat]

 

[CL82]

…I’m very happy for Geno. He’s the GOAT (not the nonsensical “one of the GOATs”) and we all know it but it would have broken my heart if the golden years of his career ended in a kind of downward slide. How many times have we seen an athlete or coach try to continue their excellence too long and then sort of slide into mediocrity? Not Geno - he coached a heck of a tournament.

Congrats, Coach. You truly are The Greatest Of All Time.

I agree though Geno says that the only reason championships matter to him is for his players and that this point in his life, another championship really doesn't change things for him much but they are "transformative" for the players who earn them.

That just makes me appreciate him all the more.

 

[Charliebball]

I agree though Geno says that the only reason championships matter to him is for his players and that this point in his life, another championship really doesn't change things for him much but they are "transformative" for the players who earn them.

That just makes me appreciate him all the more.

I understand his comments on this NC not mattering to him personally but frankly, I'm not 100% buying it......deep down whether he wants to admit it or not, this NC is further proof that he can still motivate this generation of players while outcoaching every opponent in the Tournament at this point in his career.......I bet he is just as hungry to win number 13 next season......

 

[jdote33]

I agree. One of the honest and coolest things to hear was Coach kinda say - all the teams in recent years who have beaten UConn really didn't beat UConn. Lol. He said it so matter of factly. I loved it. And in sports we often times grant this. If star players get injured we quickly point that out. We also typically acknowledge that it's hard to win without a star player. But I think because of the UConn standard and because of Paige's greatness, we (myself included) didn't give them the benefit of the doubt in terms of their losses. I never thought Geno was too old or his time had passed him but I was pretty disappointed over a couple of the final 4 losses recently. So I am very happy for him and all the coaches.

 

[jaydee602]

…I’m very happy for Geno. He’s the GOAT (not the nonsensical “one of the GOATs”) and we all know it but it would have broken my heart if the golden years of his career ended in a kind of downward slide. How many times have we seen an athlete or coach try to continue their excellence too long and then sort of slide into mediocrity? Not Geno - he coached a heck of a tournament.

Congrats, Coach. You truly are The Greatest Of All Time.

Was it my imagination, or did UCON score after almost every timeout in this tourney?
It seems like Geno called a play that would stifle an opponent's rally, ignite a UCONN scoring spree, or get an open shot for a slumping shooter.
Give the players credit for executing flawlessly, but Geno coached the hell out of this tournament with his knowledge & experience.

 

[Dugway]

Although there were some doubts here on the Boneyard ("what we really needed was another big!" or "we should have gotten another 'athlete'!"), one of Geno's craftiest moves might have been bringing in Kaitlyn Chen through the portal, providing us with steadiness at the point, scrappy defense, and poised leadership throughout the season. A great move from the GOAT.

He had mentioned that KC was exactly what he was looking for; someone that was mature at the point guard position, with a steady calming presence that would be able to carry the team without Nika who he had lost to graduation.

In essence, regardless that he still had Bueckers, he was more concerned with getting a consistent replacement for Nika than Aaliyah. I would have thought that it would be the other way around. That he would be more interested in the loss of his dominant power forward.

Guess it just shows that he’s a great evaluator of what he needs and I’m just a fan who likes to play one on the internet.

 

[psconn]

Just a couple quick ones...

I am amazed at how our team changed and improved over the season. So much and so quickly that I did not see that they became a true juggernaut, crushing #1 seeds.

Azzi's performance had been wobbly and up and down for most of the season. Seems she embraced the defense and found the right balance of aggression on offense without forcing things in the post season. Well deserved and timely MOP performance was the result. Hopefully, this success will carry over to next season when we won't have Paige to lean on.

Paige was UConn for 5 years. Legend.

I can't wait to see what Sarah does in the off season to develop her body and her game. An incredible talent who's presence takes the sting out of Paige's departure.

Kaitlyn Chen made the best decision in the history of decisions when she came to UConn. She made huge contributions in our late season rise to banner #12. I'd love to hear more from her about her experience but the press seems less interested.

KK and Ash did just what was needed to support the team. Both were so aggressive on D and hustled all over the court. Ash's 3 going into the half demoralized SC. KK's drives to the hoop were relentless.

Geno and CD = G.O.A.T.s

 

[Rb335]

Somewhat of a story of redemption for him as well. He said recently that he’s made mistakes in game plan, in game decisions, and play calls in the final four. I thought today he made a critical decision to call timeout late in Q3. Paige missed the 3 that the timeout cut off, and South Carolina would’ve had a chance to cut things below 10. It squashed South Carolina momentum, and allowed UConn to reset and put the game away.

It has to be validating for him to get back to the top after 9 years. To win a championship in a new era of his life, and a new era of basketball. Really astounding. I think he wanted this one badly, starting in Paige’s freshman year. After so much heartbreak for so many years. Anyone who can needs to tune into however much time he has left. He’s the greatest of all time, and we’re lucky to bear witness.

 

[stormsurge]

He did speak on at times wondering if the game had passed him by. Geno has adapted.. But also, in the end, I believe great leaders don't back off on the tried and true things: tough lessons strengthen people, defense wins championships, teams beat individuals and character matters.

 

[maple]

Somewhat of a story of redemption for him as well. He said recently that he’s made mistakes in game plan, in game decisions, and play calls in the final four. I thought today he made a critical decision to call timeout late in Q3. Paige missed the 3 that the timeout cut off, and South Carolina would’ve had a chance to cut things below 10. It squashed South Carolina momentum, and allowed UConn to reset and put the game away.

It has to be validating for him to get back to the top after 9 years. To win a championship in a new era of his life, and a new era of basketball. Really astounding. I think he wanted this one badly, starting in Paige’s freshman year. After so much heartbreak for so many years. Anyone who can needs to tune into however much time he has left. He’s the greatest of all time, and we’re lucky to bear witness.

The TO he called in Q3 was excellent coaching.

 

[stormsurge]

Let's not forget the confidence Geno showed in Azzi in the UCLA game. Perhaps that was the springboard Azzi needed to come out and dominate early on against So. Carolina? It is amazing to trace player performance to coaching - sometimes you can see the effects right in front of you.

 

[cohenzone]

Agreed. What this championship also showed is that coaches can evolve with their players in this new age of college basketball.

There's been a lot said about the so called "old guard" not being able to handle this environment. Personally, I thought that theory was bunk and Coach Auriemma proved it.

I think some coaches do have trouble with adjusting to the. NIL and easy transfer era. Geno happily isn’t one of them His ability to teach defense and ball movement fits almost any era. And he still gets some pretty fair players to execute what he and his staff teach.

 

[Cheddie]

Geno and Chris are fantastic game coaches. But they were unbelievably hurt by a raft of injuries. Even this year Ayanna was sidelined and she was a top recruit who could have brought great inside toughness to the team. This year was a great example of what they can accomplish with a full deck.

 

[CL82]

I understand his comments on this NC not mattering to him personally but frankly, I'm not 100% buying it......deep down whether he wants to admit it or not, this NC is further proof that he can still motivate this generation of players while outcoaching every opponent in the Tournament at this point in his career.......I bet he is just as hungry to win number 13 next season......

I think he's competitive, all successful people are, but at age 71, I think he would be content to rest on his laurels, but for the fact that he promised Paige a championship. It's the people, not the hardware, that motivate him.

 

[uh-no]

I think he's competitive, all successful people are, but at age 71, I think he would be content to rest on his laurels, but for the fact that he promised Paige a championship. It's the people, not the hardware, that motivate him.

he's licking his chops with sarah. he knows the end is near, but also still feels energized by what he does.

 

[Bone Dog]

To compare Geno to one of his rivals, Dawn got beat badly by Azzi and Ash in their first meeting. She was determined not to let Paige and Sarah beat them back then and suffered an epic defeat. She seems to have made a similar gameplan for the next meeting and suffered a similar defeat. It doesn’t mean she’s a bad coach. It means Geno didn’t give her any openings to exploit against his team.

Geno has built many different kinds of dominating teams and they create and exploit all sorts of matchup problems. Our height and athlete challenged roster rolled into one of the most dominant tournament runs in history. Each roster is a puzzle and nobody sees how to put the pieces together better than Geno.

 

[Rowdy831]

I have said all along that UConn has the best roster and when they do they win. Geno doesn't need a big to win, in fact his offense and defense is better with smaller more agile semi bigs. SC on the other hand hasn't always won when they have the best athletes and because of that I wasn't too worried about yesterday's game.

Going forward I think UConn is in a good place assuming they keep their team together. Losing Paige is big but they have the players in the pipeline to keep the train moving. It will be interesting to see how much they all improve over the offseason. With all that said I think Geno is the GOAT and his records will never be broken.

 

[BRS24]

And this is why, at the young age of 60, I'm still running around a soccer field with 12-14 y/o kids,

UConn coach Geno Auriemma becomes oldest to win national title: 'These kids are fun'

“I know a lot of my friends that are my age that haven't done what I've done with who I've done it with, and they look way older, act way older because they've lost the ability to be a kid because they're not around kids,” Auriemma said after his Huskies beat South Carolina, 82-59, to win the program’s 12th national championship.​

​

He said a lot of people told him after he won four consecutive national championships from 2013-16 with the team led by Breanna Stewart, Morgan Tuck and Moriah Jefferson, that it was a good time for him to retire. He could go out in style having done something no one else had never done.​

​

He said that as apropos as it would have been to ride off into the sunset when those three beloved players left with their four championships, he still felt like he had more to give.​