I honestly believe (should I say speculate) that this is one of the main reasons why Geno has always deflected suggestions that he coach men's basketball or specifically the UConn men's team? He once said that the only men's head coaching jobs he would consider were Duke and North Carolina. I think that may be because those two schools really seem to take the academic side of student athletics more seriously than any other MBB program with aspirations to a National Championship, certainly including UConn's -- and, yes, he said that before UNC's NCAA issues became public. (I am leaving aside Ivy League programs that do not aspire to an NC. Maybe Notre Dame and Stanford should have been on his "would consider" list also.)
I think he really enjoys coaching bright young players. He may even think that a certain level of academic skill is useful in picking up what he envisions on the basketball court. And there is some evidence that he is right -- look how quickly Kia and Maya picked up his system, possibly in part because they are used to being good students.
On the other hand, there are some excellent students who have been slow learners on the court: Mel Thomas, Gabby Williams, and even Molly Bent come to mind. And there are some non-all-star students who did very well with Geno on the court: Diana and Tina, for example. It's interesting to note who the "not-quite-3.0" students on this year's roster are (by process of elimination): Pheesa, Crystal, and Megan. None of them seem to have difficulty (well, maybe Megan had some difficulty) grasping what Geno wants to see on the court.
