Geno Auriemma has missed four games this season for UConn women’s basketball. The legendary coach opened up Saturday about the reason behind his absences.
Auriemma’s mother died in early December. The grief from the loss, coupled with an illness, necessitated a break from the Huskies.
The grief hit him in different ways over the past five-plus weeks, he said Saturday. He lost his mother on Dec. 8 and later got “the flu or whatever it was that was going around our team,” which left him physically and mentally drained.
“I think when you go through something like that, you kind of talk yourself into thinking you’re quite prepared and rationally, you’re quite prepared,” he said. “You think that you can handle whatever’s coming next. But it’s like the delayed effect that happens.”
Auriemma said he was “supposed” to take a step away and rest for a “couple of weeks” but only did so for five days. The coach admits that his decision to return so soon “backfired.” He’s since regrouped, and he believes the time away also helped him shift his mindset toward life and coaching.
“It probably isn’t until you get home, you can’t lay down and close your eyes. You can’t sit there and do anything without that…
