Let’s be crystal clear up front: I’m pretty dang sure that Geno Auriemma showers and pees in the privacy of his own privvies. When you’re literally the greatest of all time in your chosen career path, and your employer has made billions of dollars over three decades of unprecedented success, you can negotiate those kinds of perks.
And yesterday afternoon in Tampa, when Auriemma’s Connecticut Huskies reascended to the top of women’s college basketball he reminded everyone who has been along for the ride, as well as the legions of newly minted fans that the likes of Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese and JuJu Watkins have brought along lately, even they have a long way to go to catch up to the kind of impact and success he and his players have had.
CBS SPORTS’ Jack Maloney spelled out the latest details yesterday:
UConn is back on top of the women’s basketball world after a dominant run through the 2025 Women’s NCAA Tournament that ended with an 82-59 win over South Carolina in the national championship game Sunday. This is the first title for the Huskies since 2016 and a record-extending 12th overall.
And as ESPN’s Keith Jenkins compiled yesterday, it capped off an already historic 40th season of coaching the Huskies:
In the 2024-25 season, UConn women’s coach Geno Auriemma broke the record for most wins in college basketball history with his 1,217th victory. He capped off the season with his 12th national championship in the 2025 NCAA tournament.
Here’s a look at the winningest college basketball coaches — both men’s and women’s — of all time:
- Geno Auriemma (W): 1,250-165 (.883)
- Tara VanDerveer (W): 1,216-271 (.818)
- Mike Krzyzewski (M): 1,202-368 (.766)
- Jim Boeheim (M): 1,015-441 (.697)*
- Pat Summitt (W): 1,098-208 (.841)
- Barbara Stevens (W): 1,058-291 (.784)
- C. Vivian Stringer (W): 1,055-426 (.712)
- Sylvia Hatchell (W): 1,023-405 (.716)
- Muffet McGraw (W): 936-293 (.762)
- Bob Huggins (M): 935-414 (.693)
- Jim Calhoun (M): 920-397 (.699)
- Jim Foster (W): 903-347 (.722)
- Roy Williams (M): 903-264 (.774)
- Bob Knight (M): 902-371 (.709)
- Jody Conradt (W): 900-309 (.744)
Notice that absolutely none of those other names are currently coaching. The embattled Huggins may yet get more opportunities but at the same age as Auriemma (71) the likelihood he’ll achieve at least 215 more wins than Auriemma in his lifetime is nay impossible.
Besides, as Maloney underscored, Auriemma’s not still only at the top of his game, but he’s reloaded for what may arguably be yet another meld of titles:
As the celebrations begin down in Tampa and up in Storrs, the obvious question is: Can they win again next year? No team has gone back-to-back since the Huskies themselves lifted the trophy four years in a row from 2013-16.
As Paige Bueckers stood on podium at Amalie Arena, basking in the glow of her long-awaited first championship in her final collegiate season, she made it clear she had no concerns about the program’s future. “This team is in great hands. I’m not worried about them at all,” Bueckers said. “Obviously, the coaching staff speaks for itself, and these players, we got the blueprint now, we know how to do it, we know what it takes to get back here. They got a whole lot of heart, a whole lot of passion, a whole lot of faith. I’ve got nothing but trust in them.”
Even without Bueckers, though, UConn will be a formidable team next season. And the challenge isn’t to be better than this season’s team, but to be better than everyone else. Leading the charge for the Huskies will be Azzi Fudd, who was named Final Four Most Outstanding Player, and freshman sensation Sarah Strong, who became the first player ever with at least 20 points, 15 rebounds and five assists in a national championship game.
Whike a scant few critics out there will lament that this year’s road to the championship was helped considerably by Watkins’ season-ending injury that denied her the chance to go head-to-head with the Huskies, the subsequent blowouts over number one seeds UCLA and South Carolina in Tampa, especially with the breakout performance of Strong, reinforces the reality check that the Huskies are unquestionably best in class–and tees up some tantalizing possibilities moving forward as she and the rest of the sport tackle the challenge of trying to take down a seemingly insurmountable and infatiguable program.
And it sure looks like Auriemma will be looking forward to a lot more showers in the process. Including plenty involving champagne.
Courage…