How much is University of Connecticut women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma loving his “go team” cheer at the end of the NIL-fueled Marriott Bonvoy TV advertisement right now? How about his sage advice earlier in the commercial when he implores his team to “…stay calm, stay composed…”? Looks like Geno wasn’t applying that advice to himself this past Saturday evening.
In case you missed it, Auriemma had a not-so-great “stay composed” performance at the end of his team’s NCAA Final Four semi-final loss to South Carolina. With the clock showing 0.1 seconds left the long-time Connecticut coach walked to mid-court and instead of gracefully congratulating South Carolina’s head coach Dawn Staley, Geno used the moment to turn into a grumpy sore loser, and worse, he then walked out on his team and ambled to the locker room, a long way from the reputation his decades of coaching success has built.
Perhaps it’s time for Coach Auriemma to hang up the whistle. Let’s add up all the reasons why Saturday’s incident means maybe it’s time for Geno to call it a career:
Rather than congratulate the opposing coach, he argued with her that he had supposedly been slighted before the game started because she didn’t come to shake his hand at mid-court.
He decided to act this way towards (1) a younger coach who happens to be (2) a woman and (3) a Black person. Would Geno have pulled this move if it were University of Texas women’s head coach Vic Schaefer on the other bench?
He whined after the game that the mid-court hand shake is some time honored, never to be “not done” tradition. Give me a break, I’m willing to bet the guy has blown off plenty of other coaches when it comes to time honored traditions.
He complained about the opposing coach during an in-game interview with ESPN’s sideline reporter — what a petty, bush league move from a guy who complains as much as any coach in the NCAA Tournament.
He walked off after his yelling match with Staley leaving his team behind. He walked to the locker room alone, leaving his team behind. Leaving his team behind. Let that one sink in a bit more.
He offered up a lame, formulaic apology aimed at South Carolina and the general coaching staff, and couldn't bring himself to mention Staley by name and apologize to his direct counterpart from the game. Reports during Sunday's final indicated he separately reached out to Staley, though as of Sunday evening Staley confirmed she hadn't heard from him.
Listen I get that Auriemma’s won a ton of games, and a boatload of championships. Good for him. He’s recruited a lot of talent and many of them have moved on to do great things in basketball and beyond. Good for him. By elevating UConn women’s basketball to such lofty heights, he’s arguably done as much as anyone to raise the visibility of women’s basketball. Good for him.
But when you see how someone behaves when their undefeated season and 50+ game win streak comes to an end, and how he not only treats the opposing coach and also abandons his own players after a crushing loss, it makes you wonder if he’s in service of his players, his university, and his sport — or just himself?
Should this incident be enough for Coach Auriemma to hang ‘em up? I don’t know, that’s up to Geno and the UConn administration. At the very least hopefully there’s a sincere reflection by the coach, a sincere apology made to coach Staley, and a closed door meeting apologizing to his team for walking out on them in Phoenix.