The 2023-24 season is over. The transfer portal is (still) open. Tara VanDerveer has coached her last game. Two of those three statements would’ve made zero sense to me even a few years ago.
But here we are. Times, they are a-changin’. We at The Athletic are here to make sense of all the movement. Let’s dive into this week’s mailbag to examine some of the big changes and project how they might have an impact on the sport.
Note: Submitted questions have been edited for clarity and length.
Do you think Geno retires end of next year? He will get the all-time wins record early in the season and Paige will be leaving. If so, who do you see as his replacement? (Sue Bird has already said no interest ☹️). I assume CD will retire when Geno goes. — Thomas S.
I don’t think Auriemma will retire until he has another run at a national title with a fully healthy team. Even this year, with a group that ran six deep and had shifting rotations until the tournament, the Huskies still managed to put together a Final Four run. Among his many impressive coaching jobs, this one is near the top. But even when VanDerveer announced her retirement this offseason (even though I thought she’d want at least one go-around in the ACC), I never thought we’d see Auriemma step down. Let’s see…
