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Geno Auriemma already has the most championships of any coach in NCAA basketball history, so it only makes sense that he becomes the winningest coach, too.
The UConn legend surpassed recently retired Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer with 1,217 all-time wins Wednesday in a 85-41 win at home over Fairleigh Dickinson. VanDerveer broke the record herself, then held by Duke men’s basketball’s Mike Krzyzewski, in January.
“What he’s built here, it’s here because of him, so he definitely downplays it,” UConn guard Paige Bueckers said. “He doesn’t want to do the whole thing: the celebration, the goats, the ice cream, it’s all extra to him. But he deserves it, and we want to celebrate him, because he doesn’t celebrate himself a lot. So everyone around him will make sure they do that job.”
UConn planned a celebration to mark the 40th season in Storrs for Auriemma and assistant coach Chris Dailey for the same evening. The two have 11 national titles to their names, most recently in 2016. They’ve taken the Huskies to the Final Four 23 times and won 59 conference championships. They’ve coached six perfect seasons. In addition to his time in Storrs, Auriemma has led Team USA to three gold medals in the 2000 (as an assistant), 2012, and 2016 Olympics, and two FIBA World Championships in 2010 and 2014.
The university brought out a live goat to salute Auriemma officially setting the mark. “If this goat takes a dump on this carpet, we’re going to win a national championship,” the coach joked Wednesday night.
Several school legends were on hand to see Auriemma break the record, including Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, Maya Moore and Rebecca Lobo.
LSU’s Kim Mulkey has the highest known salary in women’s college ball at $3.26 million per year. Auriemma, 70, and South Carolina coach Dawn Staley are tied behind her at $3.1 million annually.
Last month, UConn announced its first season ticket sellout at the smaller of its two home arenas since the 2004–2005 season. For decades, the school’s men’s and women’s basketball teams have split their home games between Gampel Pavilion in Storrs and the XL Center in Hartford, which fits about 5,000 more fans.
The Huskies finished last season with a down-to-the-wire Final Four loss to the Iowa Hawkeyes in a game that temporarily held the record for the most-watched women’s college basketball game ever with 14.2 million average viewers.
This year’s team has high expectations, led by Bueckers and Azzi Fudd, who each missed one of the last two seasons recovering from an ACL tear. Fudd made her season debut on Auriemma’s night, her first game back from that knee injury last November. Fudd had four points over 12 minutes in her return. Auriemma’s 4–0 squad will face several big tests in December including current top-ten opponents Notre Dame, Iowa State, and USC. Two of those three games are already sold out.
