TAMPA, Fla. — UConn coach Geno Auriemma joked about being the oldest coach to win a Division I basketball title, women’s or men’s, after the Huskies got the program’s 12th on Sunday.
“Well, all those other coaches had the good sense to not stick around until they were 71,” Auriemma said after an 82-59 win over South Carolina at Amalie Arena.
He also won his 10th championship in this venue, in 2015. Then, the Huskies won again in 2016 in Indianapolis for a fourth straight title, ending Breanna Stewart’s amazing UConn career.
“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 have been apropos, I guess — ride off into the sunset.
“But … you make the decision you’re not finished yet, and then three, four years go by, and people start telling you that UConn is not UConn anymore and it’s somebody else’s turn. And then five years go by, and six years go by, and seven years go by.”
In all, eight years and seven…
