Geno Auriemma is one of 15 coaches to appear on the 2026 Naismith Women’s College Coach of the Year Watch List.

The Atlanta Tipoff Club disclosed the list on Wednesday, and it also included the names of two of the players-turned-coaches who played for Auriemma in his 41 years as the head coach at UConn: Shea Ralph of Vanderbilt and Carla Berube of Princeton.

Auriemma, 71, led the Huskies to their 12th national championship last season. And even with the graduation of star Paige Bueckers to the WNBA, UConn hasn’t missed a beat.

The Huskies entered their game at Villanova on Wednesday night ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll with a record of 27-0 (16-0 Big East). They could be on their way to their seventh perfect season in Auriemma’s tenure.

UConn has put up eye-popping numbers in 2025-26. They rank first in the nation in categories on both sides of the ball: assist-turnover ratio (1.88), assists per game (24.0), field-goal percentage (53.0), three-point percentage (40.1), field-goal percentage defense (33.4), scoring defense (50.5 points per game) and scoring margin (38.8 points).

They stand second in scoring offense (89.3 points) and turnover margin (11.78) and third in steals per game (15.5).

Auriemma has been selected the Naismith National Coach of the Year a record eight times: 1995, '97, 2000, '02, '08, '09, '16, '17.

Among other active coaches, Dawn Staley of South Carolina has four women’s coaching Naismith awards, all coming in the past six years. Pat Summitt, the late Tennessee coach, won five times.

Staley is nominated again this season.

Auriemma has the most career wins of any college basketball coach – men’s teams or women’s teams – and has a 1,277-165 (.886) overall record.

Among his former players, Ralph has a 97-62 career record in five seasons at Vanderbilt. Her team is 24-3 (10-3 Southeastern Conference) and ranked No. 5 in the latest AP poll.

Ralph, 47, played for UConn from 1996-2001.

Berube, 50, was a teammate of Ralph for one season, part of the UConn team from 1993-97.

Over six seasons as the Tigers’ head coach, Berube’s Princeton team has a 141-28 mark and leads the Ivy League this season with a 20-3 record, 8-2 in the conference.

Geno Auriemma, UConn
Jennie Baranczyk, Oklahoma
Kim Barnes-Arico, Michigan
Carla Berube, Princeton
Cori Close, UCLA
Krista Gerlich, Texas Tech
Jan Jensen, Iowa
Kara Lawson, Duke
Kevin McGuff, Ohio State
Kim Mulkey, LSU
Shea Ralph, Vanderbilt
Tammi Reiss, Rhode Island
Vic Schaefer, Texas
Dawn Staley, South Carolina
Jeff Walz, Louisville

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