Geno Auriemma’s UConn Huskies were on a 38-game unbeaten streak when they went into the Final Four matchup against Dawn Staley’s South Carolina Gamecocks. That game marked the end of their season as they lost 48-62.
Despite South Carolina’s win and UConn’s unbeaten run coming to an end, Auriemma made headlines for his actions in the final second of the game. He got into a heated exchange with Staley when she went to shake hands with him on the sidelines.
Auriemma has received a lot of criticism for his actions, as it took all the attention away from how well South Carolina played to defeat a powerhouse like UConn. The Huskies’ head coach issued an apology amid all the flak he was receiving.
“There’s no excuse for how I handled the end of the game vs. South Carolina. It’s unlike what I do and what our standard is here at Connecticut. I want to apologize to the staff and the team at South Carolina. It was uncalled for in how I reacted,” he said in his statement.
Interestingly, Auriemma’s apology didn’t mention Staley by name. He did, however, outline that the Gamecocks played really well and they deserved to have their moment.
“The story should be how well South Carolina played, and I don’t want my actions to detract from that,” he added.
Even after the apology, fans continued to target Auriemma as he didn’t directly apologize to Staley. However, as per UConn legend Rebecca Lobo, Coach Geno reached out to Staley privately.
“Coach Auriemma was certainly wrong in that moment, which he acknowledged in his apology yesterday. And I know he has also since reached out personally to Dawn to apologize. It’s unfortunate that happened. It’s unfortunate that any focus was taken off South Carolina’s performance,” she said.
Although Lobo tried to clarify the situation, most fans only saw his original apology, and they still think he should’ve included her name.
Geno Auriemma on His Relationship with Dawn Staley
After the game, Auriemma was asked about her off-court relationship with Staley. He said that he doesn’t have a relationship with her because they don’t have anything in common.
Auriemma and Staley were on the same side once when he coached the Olympic team, and she was his assistant coach.
“Dawn was my assistant on the Olympic team, and we’ve been coaching against each other for a long, long time,” he said. “I have a tremendous amount of respect for her for what she has done at South Carolina.”
Outside of that, he has no personal relationship with her, but he still respects Staley a lot for putting South Carolina on the map.
Read More:
Geno Auriemma Drops Cryptic Response on Animated Altercation With Dawn Staley
Will Geno Auriemma Retire After Loss vs South Carolina? UConn HC Makes Baffling Comment
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