Geno: Winning title made staying 'all worthwhile'

TAMPA, Fla. - UConn manager Geno Auriemma joked astir being the oldest manager to triumph a Division I hoops title, women's oregon men's, aft his Huskies got the program's 12th connected Sunday.

"Well, each those different coaches had the bully consciousness to not instrumentality astir until they were 71," Auriemma said pursuing an 82-59 triumph implicit South Carolina astatine Amalie Arena.

He besides won his 10th title successful this venue, successful 2015. Then the Huskies won again successful 2016 successful Indianapolis for a 4th consecutive title, ending Breanna Stewart's astonishing UConn career.

"There was a large portion of my interior ellipse of radical that I spot that were hoping that aft the Stewie fourth-in-a-row that I should person called it a time backmost then," Auriemma said. "That would person been apropos, I conjecture -- thrust disconnected into the sunset.

"But ... you marque the determination you're not finished yet, and past three, 4 years spell by and radical commencement telling you that UConn is not UConn anymore and it's idiosyncratic else's turn. And past 5 years spell by, and six years spell by, and 7 years spell by."

In all, 8 years and 7 NCAA tournaments passed (the 2020 tourney was cancelled by the COVID-19 pandemic) betwixt the extremity of Stewart's reign and Sunday's championship. During that time, UConn inactive got to the Final Four each twelvemonth but 1 (2023, erstwhile Paige Bueckers was retired with a genu injury) but the championships went to South Carolina (three), Notre Dame, Baylor, Stanford and LSU.

Along with Bueckers' wounded successful 2022-23, defender Azzi Fudd missed each but 2 games past play with a genu injury, and the Huskies dealt with respective different superior injuries to cardinal players. UConn was not astatine afloat spot for the past 3 postseasons.

"For america it ever seemed like, if we ever got a accidental to get healthy, this could beryllium beauteous good," Auriemma said.

That was the lawsuit Sunday, arsenic the Huskies had beaten their 3rd No. 1 effect successful this tournament. UConn won its 2 Final Four games by a combined 57 points. Bueckers, Fudd and freshman Sarah Strong made the all-tournament squad with Fudd arsenic the Final Four's astir outstanding player. The trio scored 65 points against South Carolina and 57 against UCLA successful the semifinals.

For Auriemma, who is the all-time winningest manager successful assemblage hoops (1,250-165), this was his 24th Final Four and helium is present 12-1 successful title games. The lone nonaccomplishment came successful 2022 to South Carolina.

Auriemma's day is successful March; helium was 71 years and 14 days aged Sunday. The erstwhile oldest manager to triumph the women's rubric was Stanford's Tara VanDerveer successful 2021, erstwhile she was 67 years, 282 days. The oldest to triumph the men's rubric is besides from UConn: Jim Calhoun, who was 68 years, 329 days erstwhile the Huskies won successful 2011.

Auriemma half-seriously said Saturday that helium thought astir retiring aggregate times a play implicit the past fewer years, but ever recovered reasons to enactment around.

"We each consciousness our property astatine immoderate point," helium said. "We don't similar to admit that we're older due to the fact that we inactive enactment younger due to the fact that of the radical that we're dealing with. A batch of my friends that are my property that haven't done what I've done with who I've done it with ... they look mode older, enactment mode older. Because they've mislaid the quality to beryllium a kid due to the fact that they're not astir kids.

"So, yeah, I whitethorn beryllium 71 number-wise, but I deliberation different I'm much capable to bash worldly with those young radical due to the fact that I'm astir them each time and they hitch disconnected connected me. Does that mean I tin bash this for different X fig of years? No, because, you know, vino is bully for you, too, and if you're astir it each the time, aft a while, you aftermath up and you spell that was truly bad, I had excessively overmuch fun.

"So these kids are fun. But determination is going to travel a clip erstwhile the amusive doesn't destruct however hard it is to bash this job. This occupation is truly hard to do."

For now, though, it sounds similar Auriemma is consenting to walk much clip close wherever helium has been since taking implicit the UConn programme successful 1985. He credits the players for that.

"When I archer you it's truly retired of your hands, it truly is true," helium said. "All of this is successful the hands of the players who are playing. And they made it each worthwhile today."