UConn Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma once cited the MLB team New York Yankees as a source of inspiration when asked how his program deals with pressure. In May 2015, Auriemma appeared on the YES Network alongside former Duke Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski for an offseason interview.
In one instance, Auriemma was asked about the recurring pressure to win more national championships with the Huskies, especially as they already had 10 titles at the time. They have since won two more. The now 71-year-old said he tends to analyze the Yankees, an MLB franchise worth $8.2 billion, as per Forbes, in how he deals with pressure.
“That’s what I was saying on the way over here. I said, ‘I’ve really learned to appreciate the Yankees,’ because it’s like the season starts when the World Series starts. When you win it, it was a good year. If you don’t win it, it was a lousy year. The bar is set so high that I think it works in your favor, believe it or not,” Auriemma explained. (3:25)
“When the bar is set really high, you tend to live up to those expectations that you have for yourself and other people have for you. Is it hard? It gets hard at times when every time you lose a game, it’s, ‘What did you do wrong?’ Not, ‘The other team played great,'” he added.
The Huskies are coming off a 2024-25 season that saw them finish with an overall record of 37-3 (18-0, Big East).
They won their first national championship in nine years by defeating the reigning national champions, the South Carolina Gamecocks, in the 2025 NCAA title game by 23 points, 82-59.
When Geno Auriemma Said The Rise Of Social Media Amounts To More Accountability
In the same interview on the YES Network, coach Geno Auriemma doubled down on his point about how he and his team deal with pressure. He said the rise of social media has forced teams to address their struggles and has made them more accountable.
“That’s the one part that’s changed, I don’t know how Mike feels, in the social media, that when you lose, it’s that you did something wrong and you need to explain it. Well, what about the other guys? You know that they’re pretty good,” Auriemma said (3:56).
Auriemma and the UConn Huskies will enter the 2025-26 season as defending national champions, and they will look to win back-to-back chips with the likes of veteran Azzi Fudd and stalwart Sarah Strong, a feat that they accomplished in their last national title in 2016.
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