UConn's Geno Auriemma and South Carolina's Dawn Staley have agreed to move on and focus on the growth of women's basketball.
Four days after one of the more discussed moments in recent women’s basketball history, UConn Huskies women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma picked up the phone to call South Carolina Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley. Auriemma issued his second apology on Tuesday following a postgame spat with Staley after the Huskies’ Final Four defeat in which Auriemma says he “lost himself,” and that the sport deserved better. The two parties spoke by phone Tuesday morning, with Auriemma apologizing to Staley, her staff, and her team. He poignantly stated that, while he’s lost more Final Four contests than any coach in sport history, he lost something more important on Friday.
“I lost myself,” the statement read.
In his ending comments, Auriemma hoped that the focus would go back towards the growth of women’s basketball and less on antics. Staley also released a statement Tuesday where she spoke of her respect for Auriemma and emphasized that a single moment doesn’t define someone or their career. She asked the same as Auriemma, that the attention stay on the sport flourishing. They’ve moved on from the outburst that saw Auriemma approach Staley for a postgame handshake and get in her face before she roared back, eventually needing officials and staff to separate them.
Here is the full story from UConn Roundtable writer Jami Leabow on the comments by both coaches and rerouting the attention back on women’s basketball.
The two programs will face off next season on November 24 in the Basketball Hall of Fame Women's Showcase at Mohegan Sun Arena, and also in the 2027 Ally Tipoff Event. With both teams anticipated to contend again, the focus will remain, but the coaches are calling to turn the page and put the spotlight back on the game itself.