Geno Auriemma
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Geno Auriemma (born March 23, 1954 in Montella, Italy) is the head coach of the University of Connecticut (UConn) Huskies women's basketball team. He is one of the most renowned figures in the sport. He has led the Huskies to five national championships (1995, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004), winning the national coach of the year award five times as well. He has coached some of the greatest players ever to play the college game, among them Rebecca Lobo, Jennifer Rizzotti, Kara Wolters, Nykesha Sales, Sue Bird, Swin Cash, and Diana Taurasi.
As of 2005, Auriemma's win percentage was .834, at 557-114. His home record in Gampel Pavilion in Storrs is an even more eye-popping .905, at 295-31. In 2003, his team completed a record-setting run of 70 straight victories. His teams have twice gone undefeated to a national championship, in 1995 and 2003.
Auriemma, who grew up in Pennsylvania and graduated from West Chester University, arrived at the University of Connecticut in August of 1985 after being an assistant at Saint Joseph's University (1978-79) and the University of Virginia (1981-85). Prior to his arrival, UConn had only one winning season in the women's game. Since his arrival, he has posted 19 winning seasons, in the process setting the women's Big East home court attendance records for a game and a season.
Auriemma is also known for his quick wit and often savage tongue. His motto before the 2004 championship was, "We have Diana, and you don't." He frequently gets in media interchanges with his acknowledged chief rival, Pat Summitt of Tennessee; the two schools have one of the fiercest rivalries in college sports. He also apparently had a frosty relationship with UConn men's basketball coach Jim Calhoun, though the ice appeared to have melted when both won their national championships in 2004.
He is a 2006 inductee into both the Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame.
On ESPN, Auriemma is a frequent analyst of WNBA games. This puts him in the position of commenting on the play of his former stars [1].