STORRS, Conn. (AP) — Geno Auriemma soaked in the moment. The UConn Hall of Fame coach now stands alone atop the NCAA college basketball all-time wins list.
Auriemma broke a tie with former Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer, earning his 1,217 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 basketball. The school celebrated those 40 years Wednesday night. 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.