By James B. Ewers Jr. Ed.D.
Let’s say right away that Geno Auriemma is a championship basketball coach. I would opine that he is the greatest coach ever in women’s college basketball. His record of winning is undeniable.
Coach Auriemma has won 12 national championships, been to 23 Final Fours and had 6 perfect seasons. That is just a small sample of his accomplishments. He is a coach, mentor and ardent supporter of women’s college basketball. He has won and will continue to win. Now, let’s get to what happened on Friday, April 3, 2026, to Geno Auriemma and the UConn women’s basketball team.
They made the Final Four and their opponent was the University of South Carolina. Their coach is Dawn Staley.
The hype and publicity surrounding the game had everyone talking. UConn entered the game on a 54-game winning streak. The University of South was the betting underdog. The beauty of sports is contests are played on courts and fields.
When the final horn sounded, USC defeated UConn 62-48 and was going to the title game. The Huskies’ winning streak was snapped.
Both coaches approached midcourt for the customary end of game handshake and that is when the dustup occurred. Coach Geno didn’t want to shake Coach Dawn’s hand. Why?
In postgame comments, he felt slighted that she didn’t come to the scorer’s table to shake hands with him. There is a pre-game custom where coaches shake hands. However, Coach Staley shook hands with every UConn coach and player prior to the game being played.
It is my opinion and the opinion of many others that Geno Auriemma was simply frustrated because he lost. He was out-coached and his players were out-played.
In an immediate post-game interview with ESPN’s Holly Rowe, Coach Staley said, “I have no idea, imma let you know this: I’m of integrity. So, if I did something wrong to Geno, I have no idea what I did. I guess he thought I didn’t shake his hand at the beginning of the game. I didn’t know. I went down there pre-game, shook everybody on his staff’s hand. I don’t know what he came with after the game. But hey, sometimes things get heated, we move on.”
Dawn Staley is an ambassador for women’s sports. Her vision and her opinions matter. Young women see her as the consummate role model. She understands the slippery slope between winning and losing. You can’t have one without the other. That is simply the nature of sports.
If you can learn that early on as a player or coach, the losses will become a lot more bearable. You can’t win them all.
Coach Auriemma released two apology statements. The first one didn’t mention Coach Staley by name. The second one did. It said, “Those who know me know I have nothing but respect and admiration for the game and the coaches who coach it. Dawn and her team deserved to win, and they deserved better from me.” Further, he stated that in the loss, he lost himself. Simply put, his emotions got the best of him.
Some of us have been student-athletes and coaches at the college level. Winning is wonderful and it gives us a euphoric feeling. Smiles and pats on the back usually follow. Losing on the other hand is an empty and painful experience. It’s draining and you are temporarily in a losing drought. Sometimes depending upon what is at stake, recovery time is slow to happen.
The game of women’s college basketball is growing by leaps and bounds each year. Television ratings and attendance figures are at an all-time high. This has translated into more girls at the elementary, middle and high school levels playing basketball. Dawn Staley and Geno Auriemma have placed their imprint on this growth in basketball. Let’s be happy that we have these two legends in a sport that we love.
