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TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Geno Auriemma has accomplished more than just about anyone in college basketball.
The 71-year-old UConn coach passed former Stanford women’s basketball coach Tara VanDerveer as the winningest coach in Division 1 earlier this season. He won his 12th NCAA title on Sunday, 30 years after winning his first one.
He has done it all in his 40 years at UConn, and amid the celebration of his latest championship gave no indication that he's slowing down just yet.
“We don’t like to admit that we’re older because we still act younger because of the people that we’re dealing with, said Auriemma, who became the oldest coach to win a national championship. "Yeah, I may be 71 number-wise, but otherwise, I’m more able to do stuff with those young people because I'm around them every day and they rub off on me.
"Does that mean I can do this for another X number of years? No ... These kids are fun, but there is going to come a time where the fun doesn’t eliminate how hard it is to do this job. This job is really hard to do."
Auriemma's love-hate relationship with Bueckers
Auriemma took over at UConn in 1985 and has spent the past four decades building the program into one of the greatest dynasties in sports. Before he came to the school from Virginia, the program had only one winning season. Since then, Auriemma only has one losing season in his career — his first one with the Huskies — has been to 24 Final Fours and has led the Huskies to 29 conference tournament championships.
He led UConn to four straight titles from 2013-16 with Breanna Stewart. The Huskies are still the last program to repeat as champions, but before Sunday, they hadn't won another title since that run.
“There was a big part of my inner circle of people that I trust that were hoping that after the Stewie fourth in a row that I should have called it a day back then,” Auriemma said. “That would’ve been pretty apropos, I guess.”
Stewart, a WNBA champ and Olympic gold medalist is just one of many prolific players who have been coached by Auriemma. Stewart, along with Diana Taurasi, Sue Bird and Maya Moore were all in attendance on Sunday.
Ask any of them about their former coach, and they'll all have high praise and fond memories. Some of the older players might say he's gotten softer since their days. The younger ones may talk about his sense of humor.
Paige Bueckers is the latest UConn megastar who credits Auriemma with shaping her dominant career. When Bueckers checked out of the game on Sunday, her collegiate finale, she hugged Auriemma for several minutes.
“Just gratitude for all that Coach has meant to me and how much he’s shaped me to the human I am, to the basketball player I am throughout this entire five years,” Bueckers said. “And just putting it all together in one hug what our journey has been together.”
When asked what they said to each other, Bueckers quipped: "He told me he loved me. I told him I hated him. We both love each other, but we hate each other some days.”
Celtics coach a big Auriemma fan
Boston Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla is another Auriemma fan.
He urged reporters to quickly get through his Washington Wizards pregame news conference Sunday so he could watch UConn play in the title game. Mazzulla has a relationship with Auriemma, even to the point of attending some practices, and likens him to another of his coaching friends and idols -- soccer’s Pep Guardiola of Manchester City.
“He’s been amazing. I think when I first got the job, the Italian connection and really the connection of just being in New England, but to me, he’s the basketball version of what we talk about with Pep,” Mazzulla said. “He has the ability to outcoach you tactically, manage the best players, manage talent and all the things that some of the best players of all-time say about him, it just shows what type of person and coach he is.”
Mazzulla made no secret of how highly he thinks of Auriemma.
“He really took me under his wing of just kind of how to go after greatness, how to manage talent, how to coach talent to the highest level and how to do it with great perspective,” Mazzulla said. “As successful as he’s been, he’s got great perspective.”
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AP Basketball Writer Tim Reynolds contributed to this report from Miami.
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