Cameron Brink on Tara VanDerveer
Cameron Brink praises coach Tara VanDerveer after playing her last game with Stanford Women’s Basketball.
Sports Seriously
Connecticut women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma has signed a five-year contract extension that will keep him with the Huskies through the 2028-29 season, the school announced Tuesday.
The extension is valued at $18.7 million, according to the university, and it also includes performance-based incentives that could increase the value of the contract. His previous contract was set to expire in April 2025.
The new contract seemingly puts an end to any speculation Auriemma would retire in the near future. In February, after he won his 1,200th game as a head coach, the 70-year-old suggested his coaching career could be coming to a close and he wouldn’t add hundreds of more wins, but “more along the line of single digits.”
With this new contract, Auriemma certainly has a chance to get at least 100 more wins.
“I still find it hard to believe that I’ve been at UConn for over half my life,” Auriemma said in a statement. “I feel like there’s so much more that can be done, and will be done, and I’m excited to be the one to do it with my staff and my team. I’m probably as excited about these next few years as I’ve ever been over the last 40.”
Auriemma should soon become the winningest coach in college basketball history. The current record belongs to Tara VanDerveer, who has 1,216 wins. However, VanDerveer announced her retirement in April, and with Auriemma only three victories behind her at 1,213 wins, he should become the record holder within the first month of the 2024-25 season.
Next season will be Auriemma’s 40th leading UConn, which he’s turned into a national power. In his tenure, the Huskies have reached 23 Final Fours and won 11 national championships — completing six perfect seasons. The Huskies have advanced to at least the Sweet 16 every year since 1994, when the women’s NCAA Tournament expanded to 64 teams. Auriemma has been named Naismith National Coach of the Year eight times, AP National Coach of the Year nine times and he was inducted to both the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006.
Connecticut, which made it to the Final Four before losing to eventual runner-up Iowa, remains a national championship contender heading into the upcoming season. Guard Paige Bueckers will also be returning to the Huskies for her redshirt senior season as the team aims to win its first national championship since 2016.