Auriemma << awr ee EHM uh, >> Geno (1954-…), is one of the most successful college coaches in the history of American women’s basketball. Auriemma has been head coach at the University of Connecticut since 1985. His teams have won 11 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championships, in 1995, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016. The 1995, 2002, 2009, 2010, 2014, and 2016 teams were undefeated. Auriemma’s 11th championship set a record for both men’s and women’s basketball. He previously shared the record of 10 titles with University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) coach John Wooden. On Dec. 19, 2017, he became the fourth coach in women’s college basketball history to win 1,000 games. Auriemma was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006.
In 2009, Auriemma was appointed head coach of the United States women’s team in international competition. He coached the women’s team to the world championship in 2010 and 2014 and to gold medals at the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympic Games.
Auriemma has coached some of the greatest college players in modern women’s basketball, including Sue Bird, Rebecca Lobo, Jennifer Rizzotti, Breanna Stewart, Diana Taurasi, and Kara Wolters. In 2010, Auriemma’s Connecticut team won its 71st consecutive game, breaking the women’s college basketball record of 70 straight wins set by Connecticut from 2001 through 2003. Later in 2010, Connecticut won its 89th consecutive game, breaking the college record of 88 straight victories set by the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) men’s team from 1971 through 1974. The Connecticut streak ended in 2010 at 90 consecutive victories. In 2017, Connecticut again set a new record by winning its 91st consecutive game, a streak that began in 2014. That streak ended later in 2017 at 111 consecutive victories. Connecticut became the first NCAA basketball team, either male or female, to win 100 consecutive games.
Auriemma was born on March 23, 1954, in Montella, Italy, near Avellino. He moved to the United States at the age of 7 with his parents. Auriemma grew up in Pennsylvania and graduated from West Chester State College (now West Chester University) in 1981. He was an assistant coach for the women’s basketball team at St. Joseph’s University in 1978 and 1979. He coached boys basketball at Bishop Kenrick High School in Norristown, Pennsylvania, from 1979 to 1981. He then served as an assistant coach for the women’s team at the University of Virginia from 1981 to 1985, when he became head coach at Connecticut. Auriemma became a U.S. citizen in 1994. He has written an autobiography, Geno: In Pursuit of Perfection (2006).
