Geno Auriemma confirms return as UConn head coach next season

After being eliminated from the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament by South Carolina on Friday, 72-year-old Geno Auriemma confirmed that he will be returning to coach the Huskies for the 2026-2027 season. Sarah Stier / Getty Images Share full article1Geno Auriemma confirmed to The Athletic that he will be returning to coach the Huskies next season for his 43rd at the helm. Auriemma, 72, has been the torchbearer of success in collegiate women’s basketball for much of his four-decade career. He’s won 12 national championships (six of them undefeated), been to 25 Final Fours, and has 1,288 career wins. He’s the winningest college basketball coach in history, men’s or women’s, and will return to increase that lead next season. Friday night saw the end of a 54-game unbeaten streak and a 38-0 undefeated season for Auriemma’s Huskies. Had UConn beaten South Carolina and won Sunday’s national championship, it would have been Auriemma’s seventh undefeated championship. Instead, Auriemma has faced public scrutiny in the hours since UConn’s 62-48 Final Four semifinal loss on Friday for his behavior toward South Carolina coach Dawn Staley. With less than a second left, Auriemma walked over to Staley for the customary postgame handshake and instead shared spirited words with his opposing three-time national championship coach. An argument ensued, with both sides visibly frustrated, before Auriemma left the floor without finishing the handshake line and without his team. He released a statement Saturday morning condemning his actions the night prior. “There’s no excuse for how I handled the end of the game vs. South Carolina,” Auriemma said in the statement released by UConn. “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. “The story should be how well South Carolina played, and I don’t want my actions to detract from that. I’ve had a great relationship with their staff, and I sincerely want to apologize to them.” Despite his actions on Friday, Auriemma remains at the peak of women’s basketball in his consistency of dominance at UConn. The Huskies have missed the Final Four just once in the last 18 years. For the last half-decade, UConn has been led by All-American guards Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd. Going forward, the burden of expectation falls on the 2026 National Player of the Year in forward Sarah Strong, a sign of a shift in style for the Huskies in their attempt to get back. “I think she should take it on her shoulders. I mean, this is what this is all about. You know, what are you gonna do? You know, go home and pretend it doesn’t mean anything?” Auriemma said. “I think the best players carry it with them. They put it on their own shoulders. I remember when we lost in 2001 in St. Louis. (Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi) and those guys, they went home. Not one kid said one word about it, but they carried that … for the next 12 months until we got back there. You can’t shy away from it. It is what it is, and (Strong) is tough enough to handle it.” Strong will lead Auriemma’s attempt to return to the Final Four and, further, to reinstate UConn atop the women’s basketball pyramid. Meanwhile, Staley and her Gamecocks will look to win the program’s fourth national championship since 2017, amid a streak of three straight national championship appearances, against head coach Cori Close and UCLA on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET in Phoenix. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Devon Henderson is a staff writer for The Athletic. He has covered the Summer Olympics, College Football Playoffs, and the Men's Final Four while at Arizona State University and was an intern at the Southern California News Group, where he covered the Los Angeles Rams, Los Angeles Chargers, Los Angeles Sparks, and LAFC. Follow Devon on Twitter @HendersonDevon_