UConn Huskies coach Geno Auriemma once called out one of his former players for her attitude and urged her to hone a better mindset. Over a decade ago, in Nov. 2013, a documentary video was uploaded to YouTube by SNY, which showcased Auriemma and the Huskies preparing for the season ahead of them. Then-sophomore star Breanna Stewart was featured as one of the focal points of the program.
In one part of the video, Auriemma could be seen confronting Stewart. The video also showed his conversations with his coaching staff, including associate head coach Chris Dailey, about Stewart’s mentality. They all collectively agreed that the now-New York Liberty stalwart was not open to expanding her skillset and was solely focused on what made her a great collegiate hoops player.
“The way they guarded Stewie last year, hopefully she knows this is not the way they’re going to guard you this year. You can’t stay the same, even though the same will make you, ‘Well, Coach, I might be the MVP of the Final Four again this year.’ Fine, that’d be great. But, if you have three months that are lousy during the school year, then you haven’t gotten any better than last year, have you?” Auriemma said (4:43).
“So to take those next steps, you’ve got to listen, and you’ve got to pay attention, and you’ve got to keep growing and keep improving, and not get caught up in, you know, ‘This is the way I’ve always done it. Look where it’s gotten me, I’m going to keep doing it this way.’ She’s like an enigma, but she’s good. She does have to grow up, and just becoming MVP in the Final Four doesn’t make you grow up, you know what I mean? You still got to grow up,” he added.
Stewart is coming off her third WNBA championship berth in the 2024 season with the Liberty, and is now in her ninth season in the league.
The same can be said for coach Auriemma and the current crop of Huskies, who won the 2025 national championship after defeating the reigning national champions, the South Carolina Gamecocks, in the winner-take-all game by 23 points, 82-59.
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Geno Auriemma, Breanna Stewart, and the rest of the UConn Huskies ended up winning four straight titles
The video by SNY was published months after Geno Auriemma, Breanna Stewart, and the rest of the 2013 UConn Huskies won that year’s national championship by defeating the Louisville Cardinals by 33 points, 93-60.
UConn went on to win the next three national titles from 2014 to 2016 in what ended up becoming their illustrious NCAA championship four-peat of the 2010s decade.
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