UConn’s Geno Auriemma has officially surpassed Tara VanDerveer to become the winningest coach in NCAA Division I basketball history. Auriemma secured his record-breaking 1,217th win on Wednesday with the Huskies beating Fairleigh Dickinson 85-41, and the celebration that followed was a memorable one.
As the final buzzer went off, Harry A. Gampel Pavilion erupted into cheers. It was a sold-out crowd that included over 60 of Auriemma’s former players who wanted to help him celebrate the milestone.
“Whenever this is all over, what we’ll remember is tonight. We’ll remember this,” Auriemma said during the postgame ceremony. “And I’ll remember each and every one of my players that I’ve ever coached… I don’t know how much I helped them get what they wanted, but they helped me get everything I wanted, so thank you.”
Former WNBA star Sue Bird was one of a few former Huskies who gave a speech. Despite joking about how players would have ranting sessions about the coaching staff, she highlighted the impact Auriemma and associate head coach Chris Dailey had on their players.
“My hope for you tonight is that you take a look around and really take this in and look at all these faces because every person in this room has a Coach story,” Bird said. “Every person in this room has a C.D. story. They have their own moment when you pushed them to be better than they thought they could ever be.”
Dailey arrived with Auriemma in 1985, so she shared the spotlight on Wednesday. The duo have led the program to 28 conference tournament titles as well as 11 national championships. They have cut down many nets together, so Nike gifted them a special ladder.
When Auriemma took over the program, the Huskies had only managed to register one winning season. Since then, UConn women’s basketball has become one of the most successful college sports programs ever. The coach reminisced about how earlier in his career, his staff had to “bribe students to come to games.”
UConn now has some of the most loyal fans in the nation, and Auriemma made sure they were part of the celebration. He saw four guys with the letters G-E-N-O painted across their chests sitting in the stands, and he invited them to run on the court.
But that was not the craziest part of the night. As Auriemma became the Greatest of All Time, he was surprised with a literal goat. He took this moment to predict more success for the program.
“Just so you know, there is an old wives’ tale that whenever you do this with animals, especially goats, if this goat takes a dump on this carpet, we are going to win a national championship,” Auriemma said.
While Auriemma has already had a legendary career, he still has more milestones to achieve as he signed a five-year extension with UConn over the summer.
Auriemma will continue to add to his record and stand atop the wins list for a while. Only three D-I coaches have reached 1,200 wins, and the other two — VanDerveer and longtime Duke men’s basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski — are officially retired. No active coach is even close to the 1,200 club.
VanDerveer received a congratulations message from Krzyzewski when she passed him last season, and on Wednesday she passed on the baton to Auriemma.
“This is yet another outstanding milestone in a career filled with them for Geno Auriemma,” VanDerveer said. “The level of success he has maintained at UConn over four decades will never be duplicated. But his tremendous legacy extends far beyond any number of wins. It lives in the lives of the countless young women he has positively influenced throughout his career. Congratulations to Geno and Chris on this incredible accomplishment.”
UConn, currently 4-0 and ranked No. 2 in the nation, will return to the court next Monday for a road game against Oregon State.
