UConn head coach Geno Auriemma is now the sole owner of the second-most wins by a head coach in D-I college basketball.
The Huskies beat Creighton 73-53 on Monday, helping Auriemma pass former Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski. Auriemma now has 1,203 career wins, with Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer ahead of him with 1,209 career wins.
“I think earlier in my career, to be honest with you, as things were happening that were very significant, they impacted me a lot more. But maybe the volume of things that have happened … I just take it in stride,” Auriemma said. “You’re so fixated on winning, and you’re constantly being reminded every game of how many things your team’s not good at … you’re just so fixated on the things you have to fix, the things you have to correct.
“I’m sure there’ll be a time, this summer or next summer or whatever it is, when you think back and it’ll really have a huge impact on you.”
Unlike VanDerveer’s, all of Auriemma’s wins have come at one place – UConn. He’s in his 39th season with the Huskies, having taken over ahead of the 1985-86 season and turning the team into a powerhouse.
Throughout his 39 seasons, UConn has won 11 national championships, the most of any coach in basketball history, and had two win streaks of 90+ games. They’ve also gone undefeated six times.
Lately, Auriemma says he’s been appreciating it all a little differently than he used to. UConn is currently without five players due to injury – the latest injury-ridden season for the Huskies.
“I’m probably like a lot of our fans. We made it look so easy. It was never easy. But we made it look so easy for so long that you almost forget,” Auriemma said. “I told the team today, this was one of the more gratifying [wins], and we celebrate wins more now than we used to. Maybe if we had all 14 of our players, maybe we would just be like we’ve always been here at UConn, but what we’ve gone through the last couple of years, you appreciate it way more, way more, and you appreciate your players more.”