STORRS, Conn. (AP) — Geno Auriemma soaked in the moment. UConn's Hall of Fame coach now stands alone atop the NCAA basketball wins list.
Auriemma broke a tie with former Stanford women's coach Tara VanDerveer, earning his 1,217th career victory with an 85-41 win over Fairleigh Dickinson on Wednesday night.
“We never sat down and said hey, let's make a 40-year plan and see if we can make this happen," Auriemma said. “It's about coming here every day and trying to be better than we were yesterday.”
He has spent four decades building UConn into the standard for women’s college basketball. The school celebrated those 40 years Wednesday night.
“I know it means a lot to a lot of people here at UConn that worked really, really hard to make it possible,” Auriemma said. “You saw all the players here, means a lot to them. Every single person that had a hand in all this, means a lot to them to be a part of it, want to share in it. I'm sure when the season's over I'll be able to look back on it and think about it.”
Surrounded by the greatest players in UConn history, including Diana Taurasi, Sue Bird, Maya Moore and Rebecca Lobo, Auriemma and longtime assistant Chris Dailey took in the incredible achievement in a postgame ceremony.
“It's not very often in life you get to experience something that's never been done before and that you get to experience something that will never be done again,” Lobo said.
More than 60 alums of the program were in attendance. Nearly two dozen of them played in the WNBA. The former UConn players were part of the record 11 national championships that the school has won. UConn has reached the Final Four 23 times, including in 15 of the past 16 seasons.
Before the game, the school presented the pair with ruby colored glass basketballs in honor of their 40 years at UConn. It was a day of celebrations for Auriemma and Dailey. There was a petting zoo with, fittingly, goats across from the arena as well as ice cream from the famous UConn Dairy Barn. They created a flavor “Legend-Berry Legacy” in honor of the two coaches.
The ceremony ended with a goat coming out on the red carpet and Auriemma taking a photo with it. He later said that he scratched himself while petting it.
Auriemma and Dailey received ladders from Nike and Connecticut governor Ned Lamont presented a sign that said “Welcome to Connecticut, home of the winningest coach in basketball history.”
His current team presented Auriemma with a framed jersey with the number 1,217 on it. The student section, during the final minute of the game, held up cards that spelled out 1,217.
“He gives credit to everybody around him, and he doesn’t really take it for himself,” Huskies star Paige Bueckers said. “But what he’s built here, it’s here because of him, so he definitely downplays it. He doesn’t want to do the whole thing: the celebration, the goats, the ice cream, it’s all extra to him. But he deserves it, and we want to celebrate him, because he doesn’t celebrate himself a lot. So everyone around him will make sure they do that job.”
Auriemma began his journey with UConn in 1985 and currently is 1,217-162 in his career. He has only had one losing season in his career — his first one with the Huskies. Before he came to the school from Virginia, the program had only one winning season.
VanDerveer offered her congratulations to Auriemma after the game.
“This is yet another outstanding milestone in a career filled with them for Geno Auriemma. The level of success he has maintained at UConn over four decades will never be duplicated,” she said in a statement. “But his tremendous legacy extends far beyond any number of wins. It lives in the lives of the countless young women he has positively influenced throughout his career. Congratulations to Geno and Chris on this incredible accomplishment.”
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