UConn Huskies coach Geno Auriemma has a complaint about his former star, Paige Bueckers, who celebrated her birthday on Monday, Oct. 20. During his preseason Big East conference media availability on Oct. 21, coach Auriemma discussed his program’s preparations for their national title defense, as seen in a video uploaded to YouTube by ‘Storrs Central.’
The first question posed to Auriemma was whether he wished Dallas Wings star Bueckers on her 24th birthday. The coach said he indeed greeted her, but also revealed that it took her a long time to reply. Bueckers spent her four-year college hoops tenure under his tutelage.
“Yesterday was her birthday…Happy birthday. And then 20 hours later, she said thanks. So, it tells you where I am on her list of answering her texts,” Auriemma said (0:33).
In the 2024-25 season, which was Bueckers’ final run with the Huskies, she and the rest of coach Auriemma’s UConn team won their program its record 12th national championship, first since 2016. They defeated coach Dawn Staley’s South Carolina Gamecocks, the defending national champions, in the 2025 NCAA title game by 23 points, 82-59.
Read More: “I Don’t Care How Good You Are”: When Geno Auriemma Made It Clear Talent Alone Won’t Earn Play Time in UConn
Geno Auriemma Addressed The Post-Championship Blues
During the same conversation, Geno Auriemma was asked how he keeps his players grounded and acclimated to UConn Huskies basketball, as they are a mix of returning and new players, the latter of which may not be part of last year’s NCAA title run. For coach Auriemma, it boils down to two factors. He said (1:06):
“I have found over the years that the hardest thing for a team post-championship is having a balance between two things. One, because we’ve done it already, let’s be bored during the season and wait for the NCAA tournament, because that’s the most fun, and they forget what a road it was to get to that point and what a struggle that is to get to that point. So, you got to remind them of that and not be too cocky going into the season but confident.”
“The other thing that happens is they look around and a couple of the people that really got them over the hump, in some ways, are not there, and they start to look at themselves and go, ‘Do I have it? Can I replicate what some of the guys who left were doing?’ Those two things have to be balanced out, and I think as time goes on, it does,” Auriemma added.
Auriemma and the Huskies finished with an overall record of 37-3 (18-0 Big East) last year, and will vie for their 13th national title come the 2025-26 campaign.
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