Geno Auriemma... the best college basketball coach ever?

[msstate7]

Let's compare some of the best...

John Wooden: 29 years, 664-162 (.804), 10 titles in 29 years (.345)

Coach K: 42 years, 1,071-330 (.764), 5 titles in 42 years (.119)

Dean Smith: 36 years, 879-254 (.776), 2 titles in 36 years (.056)

Adolph Rupp: 41 years, 876-190 (.822), 4 titles in 41 years (.098)

Pat Summitt: 38 years, 1098-208 (.841), 8 titles in 38 years (.211)

Geno: 32 years, 990-134 (.881), 11 titles in 32 years (.344) *still alive in tourney



Hopefully this thread is enough to jinx UConn haha

[I_Spy]

Yes

Hard to beat, lucky if you do. Tennessee could have a better team on paper back in the day but Geno's game planning is awesome.

[Goldendawg]

I know one thing, I am sick of him and his program. It's to WB, what bama is to FB, and KY to SEC BB. Has hurt overall interest in all three programs with their arrogant, sidewalk fans. I'm surprised I don't see UConn WB decals alongside all the bama stickers on the MS tagged vehicles here in my NE Ms county. Most have been to just as many UConn games as bama games.

[I_Spy]

Geno and Uconn took down the powerhouses of TN, Stanford, UNC big big names in basketball or in his percentage he took down the greats to be the greatest.

[I_Spy]

I know one thing, I am sick of him and his program. It's to WB, what bama is to FB, and KY to SEC BB. Has hurt overall interest in all three programs with their arrogant, sidewalk fans. I'm surprised I don't see UConn WB decals alongside all the bama stickers on the MS tagged vehicles here in my NE Ms county. Most have been to just as many UConn games as bama games.

Someone had to set the bar or we have nowhere to climb.

This is like real sports and coaching or not like football recruiting, money, marketing and such. Pat is a legend but I could see Geno was going to pass her for a long time and they use to rival or that was the story each year UConn TN. Legend vs Legend tells story of the greatest.

[I seen it dawg]

Yes. And arguably the best coach in any sport.

[Goldendawg]

Yeah, but variety is the spice of life. Want to see someone else at the top. Who knows? Maybe our women win the next three in a row. Hail State!

[SDDawg]

He's no Vic Schaefer.

[Dawg61]

Sorry but I can't call Geno the best ever because he hasn't challenged himself in ten years. He is Tiger Woods dominating the Hooters tour for twenty years.

[I_Spy]

I'm for our women obviously and believe that they CAN do it. How much greater it is when you understand what your rival has accomplished. We have to beat Baylor though and Kim M is stubborn too and someone I don't care much for. My thoughts are on Baylor. Watch our post fouls and I believe we can get it!

[I_Spy]

Sorry but I can't call Geno the best ever because he hasn't challenged himself in ten years. He is Tiger Woods dominating the Hooters tour for twenty years.

Shirley, you aren't serious? Nobody in any sport has had winning streaks (hard) since 1974 UCLA and Geno surpassed that even. Since my birth only Geno and women's basketball level has increased.

[Dawg61]

Shirley, you aren't serious? Nobody in any sport has had winning streaks (hard) since 1974 UCLA and Geno surpassed that even. Since my birth only Geno and women's basketball level has increased.

Dead serious. You can't be the greatest ever if you don't challenge yourself. I wanna see Geno dominate in men's BB or WNBA. Till then he's just picking on the little kids. Same with Saban.

[lamont]

Geno is the best women's basketball coach ever and its not close. Pat is a distant 2nd.

But it's women's basketball.

[smootness]

Agree with 61. Just impossible to compare women's with others. It hasn't been as competitive with nearly as much parity. Phenomenal coach, no doubt. But better than a guy like Coach K? That's really hard to say.

[I_Spy]

Coach K is not getting more perfection or knowledge of game or consistency in shot than Geno

[lamont]

Agree with 61. Just impossible to compare women's with others. It hasn't been as competitive with nearly as much parity. Phenomenal coach, no doubt. But better than a guy like Coach K? That's really hard to say.

Its like being a dominant college baseball coach in the 1970's. Just not enough teams take it seriously to measure greatness.

[I_Spy]

Coaching is simply, this is how you play the game, these are strategies and making your players execute your plan. Without flaws

You trying to say coaching depends on other teams
I'm saying if you get the most out of your team you are the best and more than once does uconn play flawless

Danielle Adams (coach Vic tamu team), Candace Parker, more than I can name are the equivalent of great male basketball players that men rival - they are not as good as great men but they are the equivalent of great women
There have been many great female basketball players not just at uconn.

[lamont]

Coach K is not getting more perfection or knowledge of game or consistency in shot than Geno

You make a good point Spy- I think the problem is many question the number of teams that are in competition nationwide.

[blacklistedbully]

Obviously great coach to have built that program up, but he now has damn near his pick of the best recruits, and doesn't play in a strong conference. I'd day one of the best, but given how top-heavy WBB is, and how very bad the vast majority of teams are, it's hard to call anyone the greatest.

I truly do think what Coach Schaefer has done at State has been more of an accomplishment than what Geno has done in that same time. Vic came into a conference that had several extremely good-to-great programs and took over a program that was a bottom-feeder, and changed them into one of the nation's best.

Could probably say the same about Staley at SCar. Just think about what an accomplishment it is to take a struggling program and turn them into a top-tier program playing in a conference like ours.

[smootness]

Obviously great coach to have built that program up, but he now has damn near his pick of the best recruits, and doesn't play in a strong conference. I'd day one of the best, but given how top-heavy WBB is, and how very bad the vast majority of teams are, it's hard to call anyone the greatest.

I truly do think what Coach Schaefer has done at State has been more of an accomplishment than what Geno has done in that same time. Vic came into a conference that had several extremely good-to-great programs and took over a program that was a bottom-feeder, and changed them into one of the nation's best.

Could probably say the same about Staley at SCar. Just think about what an accomplishment it is to take a struggling program and turn them into a top-tier program playing in a conference like ours.

Gino did do the same, he just did it 30 years ago. I'm not taking anything away from Auriemma, he's far and away the best WBB coach ever. But you can't compare that to other sports. It would be the same as comparing him to Bear Bryant or Saban. Just impossible to compare.

[smootness]

Coaching is simply, this is how you play the game, these are strategies and making your players execute your plan. Without flaws

You trying to say coaching depends on other teams
I'm saying if you get the most out of your team you are the best and more than once does uconn play flawless

Danielle Adams (coach Vic tamu team), Candace Parker, more than I can name are the equivalent of great male basketball players that men rival - they are not as good as great men but they are the equivalent of great women
There have been many great female basketball players not just at uconn.

Your coaching record does depend on other teams. Obviously.

[msstate7]

WNBA 1st round draft picks by school since '12:

Uconn -- 9
Stanford -- 2
Baylor -- 2
ND -- 6
Duke -- 3
Tenn -- 4

Uconn has won all 4 titles during this period with an overall record of 186-5 (4 of the 5 losses were in '12)

[blacklistedbully]

American Conference

Connecticut
Temple
UCF
SMU
Tulane
Cincinnati
Tulsa
Houston
East Carolina

[blacklistedbully]

Gino did do the same, he just did it 30 years ago. I'm not taking anything away from Auriemma, he's far and away the best WBB coach ever. But you can't compare that to other sports. It would be the same as comparing him to Bear Bryant or Saban. Just impossible to compare.

That's why I said I think what Vic has done since his time here is more of an accomplishment than what Geno has down over that same period. For several years now Geno has had the advantage of better athletes at every position, and in a sport where that difference is more pronounced than in other sports.

Adn as far as "Geno doing the same thing 30 years ago", was his conference anything like what the SEC has been for some time? Because it's one thing to come into a relatively weak conference and dominate it with good coaching and decent recruiting. It's another thing entirely doing that in an incredibly strong and deep conference.

[msstate7]

American Standings
TEAM CONF OVERALL
Connecticut 16-0 35-0
Temple 13-3 24-8
South Florida 11-5 24-9
UCF 9-7 21-12
SMU 7-9 19-15
Tulane 7-9 18-15
Cincinnati 7-9 16-14
Memphis 7-9 14-16
Tulsa 5-11 10-21
Houston 4-12 12-19
East Carolina 2-14 11-19

Definetely a weak conference, but no one has had success outside their conference either. Since '93, he's finished outside the elite 8 2 times (both sweet 16) with 11 titles and 5 final 4 finishes

[blacklistedbully]

Definetely a weak conference, but no one has had success outside their conference either. Since '93, he's finished outside the elite 8 2 times with 11 titles and 5 final 4 finishes

Yes, he was able to take over that conference, win multiple conference titles, and over time parlayed that and all the wins that come with it into getting the most elite recruits in the world, which resulted in even greater domination in his league, and more attraction from elite players, etc, etc.

I'm not denying he is a great coach...I'm simply saying it's hard to say, given the clear advantage he has had for some time now. Are you certain he would have done exactly the same had he come to MSU all those years ago and had to compete in the SEC? Would he likely have dominated in the same way? Because that domination certainly contributed to his recruiting success.

[Ifyouonlyknew]

UCONN was in the Big East up until 2014 & it was a very good & competitive conference. So no he didn't just build up his empire beating cream puffs.

[msstate7]

Yes, he was able to take over that conference, win multiple conference titles, and over time parlayed that and all the wins that come with it into getting the most elite recruits in the world, which resulted in even greater domination in his league, and more attraction from elite players, etc, etc.

I'm not denying he is a great coach...I'm simply saying it's hard to say, given the clear advantage he has had for some time now. Are you certain he would have done exactly the same had he come to MSU all those years ago and had to compete in the SEC? Would he likely have dominated in the same way? Because that domination certainly contributed to his recruiting success.

Vic has won at a .713 clip here, so I have no reason to think geno wouldn't have won here either. I love Vic and think he's the best coach we have regardless of sport, but geno is better... much better

[lamont]

WNBA 1st round draft picks by school since '12:

Uconn -- 9
Stanford -- 2
Baylor -- 2
ND -- 6
Duke -- 3
Tenn -- 4

Uconn has won all 4 titles during this period with an overall record of 186-5.

so he gets the best talent in the country? Shirley you didnt just realize this. If you wanted to support your argument- the number of draft picks needs to be more evened out

[msstate7]

so he gets the best talent in the country? Shirley you didnt just realize this. If you wanted to support your argument- the number of draft picks needs to be more evened out

I figured the gap would be more than 3 over the 2nd place team

[lamont]

I figured the gap would be more than 3 over the 2nd place team

Why? ND has the 2nd most. They have won 6 straight conference titles...FF 5 of the last 6 years...and Runner-up 4 times in 6 years. They are as dominant as UConn- just cant get over the hump to win a title

[I_Spy]

This is the truth. No one can dismantle a team like Geno. Not always was #2 a distant to a #1 UConn it has been close competition.

Their knowledge of the game, switches, picks, consistency ...he can throw a thousand different looks and his teams can play flawlessly that it's unlike anything else.

Now that's in design or gameplan but effort and will can always beat that. I called Coach Vic to bring up states women's basketball to rival UConn when Vivians was a freshman bc I already knew who Coach Vic was with tamu.

[msstate7]

WNBA 1st round draft picks by school since '12:

Uconn -- 9
Stanford -- 2
Baylor -- 2
ND -- 6
Duke -- 3
Tenn -- 4

Uconn has won all 4 titles during this period with an overall record of 186-5 (4 of the 5 losses were in '12)

Total draft picks in same time period...

Uconn -- 10
Stanford -- 5
Baylor -- 4
ND -- 6
Duke -- 3
Tenn -- 10

[blacklistedbully]

Vic got us to the NCAA's quicker, and to the Sweet 16 quicker. If we beat Baylor, he will have also got us to the Final Four quicker. Would y'all not agree the SEC since 2012 has been better and deeper than the Big East was when Geno started?

[lamont]

Vic is an outstanding coach- no doubt. He is not better than Geno- its not even a contest

[blacklistedbully]

# of NCAA Tourney teams from Big East Geno's first 5 years - 10
# of NCAA Tourney teams from SEC Vic's first 5 years - 38

How long it took Geno to get UConn to first NCAA tourney - 4 years (# of NCAA bids for BE - 3)
How long it took Vic to get MSU to first NCAA tourney - 3 years (# bids for SEC - 7)

How long it took Geno to get UConn past 2nd round - 6 years (# bids for BE - 3)
How long it took Vic to get MSU past the 2nd rd - 4 years (# bids for SEC - 8)

Vic got there quicker and in a much, much deeper conference.

[msstate7]

# of NCAA Tourney teams from Big East Geno's first 5 years - 10
# of NCAA Tourney teams from SEC Vic's first 5 years - 38

How long it took Geno to get UConn to first NCAA tourney - 4 years (# of NCAA bids for BE - 3)
How long it took Vic to get MSU to first NCAA tourney - 3 years (# bids for SEC - 7)

How long it took Geno to get UConn past 2nd round - 6 years (# bids for BE - 3)
How long it took Vic to get MSU past the 2nd rd - 4 years (# bids for SEC - 8)

Vic got there quicker and in a much, much deeper conference.

You left off Vic's shsu numbers.

[blacklistedbully]

SHSU is another animal. I'm comparing each coach's first 5 years at their present university. Do you really want to get into a detailed discussion about the kinds of uphill battles Vic had at SHU compared to Geno at UConn?

The challenge for Vic at SHU was much greater. Their historical pinnacle was making a WNIT once. They are known for ranking #2 nationally in cost per win in 2006 at less than $25,000 per win. Translation - they have ZERO budget.

[blacklistedbully]

You left off Vic's shsu numbers.

Noticed you left off the fact that Vic had just 3 years coaching experience as an assistant before he took over at SHSU, but Geno had 7 years prior to UConn.

[Ifyouonlyknew]

Look I love Vic but if we're trying to compare or suggest he's a better coach than Geno that's a new level of maroon tinted glasses.

[msstate7]

Look I love Vic but if we're trying to compare or suggest he's a better coach than Geno that's a new level of maroon tinted glasses.

Yeah and I hate to even argue against it bc I love Vic. It's not just Vic that's <<< geno... it's every women's basketball coach ever

[I_Spy]

"33 baskets, 30 assists," Auriemma said. "Take a minute to think about that. [Syracuse] had 26 baskets and eight assists."

We all love Vic this is why we are excited. Lets get past Baylor!!

[blacklistedbully]

Look I love Vic but if we're trying to compare or suggest he's a better coach than Geno that's a new level of maroon tinted glasses.

# of NCAA Tourney teams from Big East Geno's first 5 years - 10
# of NCAA Tourney teams from SEC Vic's first 5 years - 38

How long it took Geno to get UConn to first NCAA tourney - 4 years (# of NCAA bids for BE - 3)
How long it took Vic to get MSU to first NCAA tourney - 3 years (# bids for SEC - 7)

How long it took Geno to get UConn past 2nd round - 6 years (# bids for BE - 3)
How long it took Vic to get MSU past the 2nd rd - 4 years (# bids for SEC - 8)

Vic got there quicker and in a much, much deeper conference

Are you going to argue that Geno did better in his first 5 years than Vic? Doubt it.

Was Vic's challenge greater at MSU than Geno's was his first 5 years? (38 SEC teams invited to NCAA tourney compared to 10) That means Geno's BE averaged just 2 teams per year that were good enough to earn or get invited, while Vic's SEC averaged nearly 8 teams per year.

Are you seriously going to argue that Geno didn't have an easier path to building a conference championship program? Are you going to argue that winning more conference championships doesn't equal more chances to win the NCAA tourney?

How about the fact that UConn's men's program had been a regional powerhouse long before, and have had great facilities. That often floats downstream to the women.

Nobody, including me, is saying he isn't a great coach, or even that he isn;t one-of-the-greatest. I'm simply saying I'm not ready to say he is hands down the greatest because his recent history has been buoyed by his significant edge in talent. Success begets success. And while it was his initial success that lead to the greater success, he clearly did have an easier time achieving that initial success due to his conference. That conference was not very strong, as is evidenced by the very few NCAA appearances they received...so Geno had a relatively easy path to multiple conference championships.

Vic, on the other hand has had more success in his first 5 years at State than did Geno in his first 5 at UConn, and the SEC was exponentially tougher and deeper than the BE was for Geno and UConn.

You guys are getting too caught up in what Geno has been able to do with all the advantages. To be sure, he has had to be a great coach anyway to achieve what he has...even with those advantages. But advantages....he has had, and for a number of years now.

I say it's up for debate who the better coach is between Vic & Geno. What's not up for debate is which has accomplished more overall...that's Geno.

But just what do you think Vic might have accomplished had he been the one to take the UConn job in 1985, after 7 years of coaching experience?

[Ifyouonlyknew]

You're really serious? Hey man Vic is really good but he's not close to Geno. I'm sure even Vic would say that. He has 11 championships. Discussion over. At least let Vic win a SEC regular season or tourney championship.

[blacklistedbully]

You're really serious? Hey man Vic is really good but he's not close to Geno. I'm sure even Vic would say that. He has 11 championships. Discussion over. At least let Vic win a SEC regular season or tourney championship.

How about you at least try to counter one of the points I made, rather than make assumptions and ridicule?

How about this simple one. If Vic had been at UConn the past 5 seasons instead of at MSU, and had the young ladies Geno has, do you really think he would not likely have similar success? Of course, we can only take an educated guess, but if one takes the logical step of reviewing what Vic did in 5 years at State, where he had to deal with on average 7 OTHER TEAMS good enough to make the Big Dance, and comparing that to Geno's first 5 at UConn, where he had to deal with an average of 1 OTHER TEAM good enough to make it, one can more logically assume Vic would have at least similar results.

Dan, how successful do you think you'd have been the past several years if you could have kept your SEC-level talent and taken it to the Sunbelt? Might you have dominated that conference, winning it nearly every year, and making playoffs?

[I_Spy]

People, Vic got Vivians a highly rated player and he had Martha Alwal an all SEC player

Uconn sucked or was the worst team in women's basketball before Geno got there.

State has been in the tourney before but Vic is a great coach and probably would have success at uconn too

[msstate7]

Uconn had 1 winning season ('80) before geno arrived. They had never played in postseason before geno

[msstate7]

Since '89, geno has won his conference every year but '92 and '93 (big east x19, aac x4). He's won his conference tourney 22 times

[TUSK]

Lemme try:

Vic > Geno = Miles > Saban

[I_Spy]

Or it's a hugh freeze revamps ole miss but with real coaching

[sandwolf]

How about you at least try to counter one of the points I made, rather than make assumptions and ridicule?Dude, nobody is going to waste their time responding to your long list of points on such a ridiculous argument. If you are delusional enough to think that you're making a legitimate case, then IYOK probably realizes that you're too delusional to be convinced otherwise.

[HSVDawg]

Agree with 61. Just impossible to compare women's with others. It hasn't been as competitive with nearly as much parity. Phenomenal coach, no doubt. But better than a guy like Coach K? That's really hard to say.

Agreed. There is basically no parity at all. For 8 straight years now all 4 of the one seeds have reached the Sweet 16 and I think they all made the Elite 8 most of those years as well. In the 90's / 2000's it was UT, UConn, and everyone else. Now its UConn, Baylor and everyone else (but mostly UConn and everyone else). There are never any really major upsets. UConn has won 90 something in a row. How in the hell is that even possible in a major Division I sport?

[msstate7]

Agreed. There is basically no parity at all. For 8 straight years now all 4 of the one seeds have reached the Sweet 16 and I think they all made the Elite 8 most of those years as well. In the 90's / 2000's it was UT, UConn, and everyone else. Now its UConn, Baylor and everyone else (but mostly UConn and everyone else). There are never any really major upsets. UConn has won 90 something in a row. How in ths hell is that even possible in a major Division I sport?

Ucla men won 88 in row and 10 titles between '64 and '75

[Dawg61]

Agreed. There is basically no parity at all. For 8 straight years now all 4 of the one seeds have reached the Sweet 16 and I think they all made the Elite 8 most of those years as well. In the 90's / 2000's it was UT, UConn, and everyone else. Now its UConn, Baylor and everyone else (but mostly UConn and everyone else). There are never any really major upsets. UConn has won 90 something in a row. How in the hell is that even possible in a major Division I sport?

110 consecutive wins now and counting. Geno isn't challenged enough to be considered the GOAT in any sport. It's that simple. Has he built the greatest dynasty ever? Probably when you consider what they were before he arrived.

[msstate7]

110 consecutive wins now and counting. Geno isn't challenged enough to be considered the GOAT in any sport. It's that simple. Has he built the greatest dynasty ever? Probably when you consider what they were before he arrived.

Was wooden challenged enough to be considered GOAT?

[Dawg61]

Ucla men won 88 in row and 10 titles between '64 and '75

How many teams made the NCAA tourney back then? How many teams were in D1 back then? Wooden basically had an NBA team playing in a much smaller D1 back then. I hate comparing eras in sports. This argument never ends ever in any sport.

[Dawg61]

Was wooden challenged enough to be considered GOAT?

No

[blacklistedbully]

Dude, nobody is going to waste their time responding to your long list of points on such a ridiculous argument. If you are delusional enough to think that you're making a legitimate case, then IYOK probably realizes that you're too delusional to be convinced otherwise.

Vic's first 5 years results greater than Genos first 5 years results. On top of that, Vic had to accomplish it in a MUCH harder conference, thus a MUCH tougher schedule every year.

If that's too much for you to take in or even consider, you're a moron.

[msstate7]

No
A huge part of being a college coach is recruiting. I don't think a coach's legacy should be punished for being a better recruiter than every one else

[Dawg61]

Vic's first 5 years results greater than Genos first 5 years results. On top of that, Vic had to accomplish it in a MUCH harder conference, thus a MUCH tougher schedule every year.

If that's too much for you to take in or even consider, you're a moron.

Yes Vic's first 5 years here are better than Geno's but that's like reading the first 5 pages of Batman vs Superman and declaring the whole thing better than The Bible. Geno has 11 Natty's.

[msstate7]

Vic's first 5 years results greater than Genos first 5 years results. On top of that, Vic had to accomplish it in a MUCH harder conference, thus a MUCH tougher schedule every year.

If that's too much for you to take in or even consider, you're a moron.

Another thing to consider in your argument is geno was 32 years old when he got the job at uconn and was never a HC. Uconn had only 1 winning season ever and no postseason before geno. Vic was 51 when he started at state and had 7 years of HC experience

[Dawg61]

A huge part of being a college coach is recruiting. I don't think a coach's legacy should be punished for being a better recruiter than every one else

It only gets punished when you want to put up resumes for GOAT coach of all-time in any sport. I wanna see Wooden win 10 titles right now during this era of basketball. You think he'd do that? I don't therefore he's not the GOAT to me. Great coach though don't get me wrong just not GOAT in any sport.

[msstate7]

It only gets punished when you want to put up resumes for GOAT coach of all-time in any sport. I wanna see Wooden win 10 titles right now during this era of basketball. You think he'd do that? I don't therefore he's not the GOAT to me. Great coach though don't get me wrong just not GOAT in any sport.

Who is your best college basketball coach?

[blacklistedbully]

Since '89, geno has won his conference every year but '92 and '93 (big east x19, aac x4). He's won his conference tourney 22 times

Shit conference that rarely got more than 2 teams even invited to the NCAA tourney. Took him 4 years to win that shit conference. If not for a complete screw-job by refs in our game at SCar, Vic would have won the SEC regular season championship this year, in his 5th year....a year when 8 SEC teams got invited to the tourney.

Geno NEVER had to deal with a conference remotely that strong. And you are wrong...Geno also did not win his conference in '05, '06, '12 & '13. Of course he also didn't win it in the 3 years he was HC at UConn before '89. Funny how you elected to leave that out.

Also, did you know Pat Summit used to play him every year, but cancelled the series in 2008 after 3-straight Vol wins in protest over alleged unethical recruiting by Geno?

[Dawg61]

Who is your best college basketball coach?

Don't have one but here's some that I think our in the elite category.

Wooden
Knight
Pitino
Smith
K
Boeheim
Izzo
Summitt
Geno
Calipari
Calhoun
Donovan
Rupp
Sutton
Williams
Self
Huggins
Olsen

[Dawg61]

Also, did you know Pat Summit used to play him every year, but cancelled the series in 2008 after 3-straight Vol wins in protest over alleged unethical recruiting by Geno?

Yea cause Geno was telling all the recruits not to go to Tennessee to play for that "dyke". Word got back to Pat he was telling HS girls this about her so she dropped the series.

[msstate7]

Shit conference that rarely got more than 2 teams even invited to the NCAA tourney. Took him 4 years to win that shit conference. If not for a complete screw-job by refs in our game at SCar, Vic would have won the SEC regular season championship this year, in his 5th year....a year when 8 SEC teams got invited to the tourney.

Geno NEVER had to deal with a conference remotely that strong. And you are wrong...Geno also did not win his conference in '05, '06, '12 & '13. Of course he also didn't win it in the 3 years he was HC at UConn before '89. Funny how you elected to leave that out.

Also, did you know Pat Summit used to play him every year, but cancelled the series in 2008 after 3-straight Vol wins in protest over alleged unethical recruiting by Geno?

In championship games, geno is 4-0 vs pat. In final fours, 1-1. Geno is 8-7 in regular season games

[blacklistedbully]

Another thing to consider in your argument is geno was 32 years old when he got the job at uconn and was never a HC. Uconn had only 1 winning season ever and no postseason before geno. Vic was 51 when he started at state and had 7 years of HC experience

You guys keep acting like UConn went decades without winning before Geno. That is untrue. In fact, they had a winning season in '81 under the previous coach. UConn has had only 2 other coaches prior to Geno that were there more than 1 season, and it was the one prior to Geno that got the first winning season.

After joining the BE, that previous coach finished 9th, 9th & 8th, followed by Geno who went 7th, 7th & 5th his first 3 years. Again...both coaches in a conference that sucked donkey-dicks.

Biggest reason Geno went from two 7th place finishes to 5th place, then NCAA success? He signed one of the best players in the country, Kerry Bascom. Why did Kerry sign with UConn and a coach who had come in 7th both his seasons? Bascom's mom had been very sick with multiple sclerosis so Bascom wanted to stay close to home. She narrowed it down to UConn, Boston College, Syracuse University, Rutgers University and Boston University. She chose UConn, because it was just 2.5 hours away from home.

Geno rode Kerry to success. She played forward and center for the Connecticut Huskies (UConn) from 1987–1991, scoring 2,177 points, a school record until broken in 1998 by Nykesha Sales. She helped lead the Connecticut team to its first ever Big East regular season championship (1989), first Big East Tournament championship (1989), first NCAA tournament appearance (1989), first NCAA Tournament win (1990), and the first ever NCAA Final Four appearance (1991). Bascom is the first UConn player to be named to a national All America team. She would go on to play for the gold medal winning World University Game Team in 1991.

You see, Kerry was to UConn what Plum has been to UW, only better because Kerry played in the shit conference.

Then guess what....after Bascom graduated, Geno landed Rebecca Lobo. Y'all remember how utterly dominating Lobo was back then? Did Lobo choose UConn because Geno was such a great coach? Nope, it was because, "More than 100 colleges recruited Lobo, but she chose the University of Connecticut due to proximity to her home town and her belief in its academic excellence".

In Lobo's last year, Geno got fortunate again in that one of the nation's top players was Nykesha Sales, Connecticut Player of the Year. Home town girl stayed home and joined the aforementioned Lobo. That combination got UConn & Geno their first NC in 1995.

Success breeds success, so that NC won with great coaching, but also extremely good fortune getting 2 of the best players in-the-country because he was in-the-right-place-at-the-right-time, lead to Auriemma signing his best recruiting class to date in 1998 when he signed five top-15 nationally ranked players.

Success breeds success.

You can connect the dots all the way through to today, including the dirty recruitment of Maya Moore in 2008, the number 1 player in the country thought to be headed to Tennessee. Her shady recruitment is why Summitt cancelled the series, even though she'd won 3 straight vs Geno.

I could go into much more detail, but I know few of you have enough interest in making a more informed decision. You'd rather go off your gut or look at the overall numbers without considering influencing factors.

But most of it can be broken down to this:

Geno didn't look particularly special until he got Bascom (because she needed to stay close to her sick mom) and rode her to his first finish higher than 7th in a shit conference. He then rode her to his first shit conference title, first NCAA appearance as the shit conference champ, until he was able to sign Lobo, again because it was closest to home and had great academics), and rode that combo to an NCAA title.

It just snowballed from there.

Like I have said from the beginning, I think he's a great coach. But I also think he was been the recipient of way more than his fair share of dumb luck that helped him build a reputation as a winner and UConn as an elite program. He also has benefited greatly from being next door to ESPN....one of the tools he was found to have used in violation of NCAA rules to recruit #1 player Maya Moore away from Tennessee.

For any of you who don't want to invest the time to check the details, you can kiss my ass if you want to ridicule my opinion, because if you're too lazy or too disinterested to do the work, then your opinion isn't worth as much as an informed one.

[blacklistedbully]

Yea cause Geno was telling all the recruits not to go to Tennessee to play for that "dyke". Word got back to Pat he was telling HS girls this about her so she dropped the series.

Tenn filed a complaint with the NCAA, and Geno was found to have violated NCAA rules by taking the recruit to the ESPN HQ offices. Imagine how much of a recruiting advantage it is to be able to tell recruits they can count on ESPN being at all their games.