Since 1985, Geno Auriemma has been the head coach of the UConn Huskies women’s basketball program.
The successes have been plentiful since, winning an NCAA record 11 national championships and appearing in an NCAA record 23 Final Fours.
The Huskies being coached by anyone other than Auriemma at this point would be a shocking change for multiple generations of fans who have grown up with the NCAA’s second-most-winning coach of all time.
As the saying goes though, time waits for no one. At 70 years old, Auriemma is closer to the end of his coaching journey than the beginning.
However, the journey won’t be coming to an end anytime soon, as the school announced a five-year $18.7 million contract extension to keep Auriemma in Storrs through the 2028-29 season.
“I still find it hard to believe that I’ve been at UConn for over half my life,” Auriemma said in a statement Tuesday night. “I feel like there’s so much more that can be done, and will be done, and I’m excited to be the one to do it with my staff and my team. I’m probably as excited about these next few years as I’ve ever been over the last 40.”
The Huskies lost to the Iowa Hawkeyes in the 2024 Final Four, their 14th appearance since 2007. Auriemma will pass recently retired longtime Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer for first place on the all-time wins list once UConn wins its fourth game of the 2024-25 season.