“That’s a great question, because I can’t answer it,” said Geno Auriemma back in mid-March 2025, when asked what keeps him going. For someone who is known to often always have answers for reporters’ questions, the coach getting “stumped” even surprised the questioner. Having been in the coaching business for 48 years, with 40 of them devoted solely to the UConn Huskies, the 71-year-old might have given more to college basketball than any other individual. Along with boasting a 1,248–165 (.883) record, Auriemma has led several generations of Huskies stars to the NCAA tournament, and even some championship titles. With a squad of stars like Paige Bueckers, KK Arnold, and Azzi Fudd leading his team, there is a good chance that the Huskies could boast another championship title.

As Geno Auriemma’s squad goes head-to-head against the UCLA Bruins for a spot in the championship game, there is no better time to discuss just how many titles the experienced coach holds.

How many Championships has Geno Auriemma Won?

Given UConn’s reputation, and Geno Auriemma’s long tenure with the team, it should not come as a surprise that the coach has led the team to several championship titles. Nevertheless, it would still come as a shock that Geno Auriemma has led the Huskies to a record 11 NCAA Division I Tournament national championships!

The Huskies’ women squad saw its first March Madness win under Geno Auriemma back in 1995. It took 10 years to get to that point, but the team had to go into a transformative mode to compete at the championship level. After all, before Auriemma’s arrival in 1985, the Huskies women’s basketball team had posted only one winning season in the program’s entire history. The decision to hire Auriemma was part of the university’s commitment to better fund women’s sports. In the end, it paid off.

After No. 2 UConn had defeated top-ranked Tennessee 77-66 back in January 16th, 1995, it felt as if fortune was going to favor the Huskies. Sure enough, over the next 2½ months, UConn went on a 35-0 season run and won its first NCAA title. This reportedly included another victory over Tennessee in the national championship game in Minneapolis on April 2nd, 1995. The Huskies’ 1994-95 wins resulted in the second perfect season in Division I women’s basketball history. Despite being 3 decades since that championship series, Geno Auriemma revealed earlier this month that “That one’s still as if it was last week”.

The Huskies did not win their next NCAA championship until 2000. However, over the next 5 years, the team would register 3 more wins, all consecutively (2002-2004). The three-peating came not only thanks to Geno Auriemma’s coaching, but also having a cast of future WNBA stars like Sue Bird, Swin Cash and Diana Taurasi. Later, UConn would win back-to-back titles in 2009 and 2010 through players like Renee Montgomery, Maya Moore and Tina Charles. Breanna Stewart would then lead them to an unprecedented four in a row championship titles, from 2013 to 2016. Given that the UConn women’s squad last cut down the nets in 2016, after it defeated No. 4 seed Syracuse, they are due for another championship win now, aren’t they?

What all records has Geno Auriemma set during his 40-year tenure with the UConn Huskies?

Recording 11 championship titles is a significant achievement in itself. After all, it makes Geno Auriemma the coach with the most championship wins in women’s college basketball history. However, the coach would not be as renowned as he is today if he solely had only the championship titles on his belt. Even if the first championship title came a decade after Auriema joined the team, changes began to be seen under his tutelage right from the start. The Huskies finished 12–15 in Auriemma’s first season. Which, as it turned out, became his only losing season.

Later, the Huskies recorded their first-ever 20-win season, first conference title, and first NCAA Tournament appearance. Since Auriemma joined the team, Connecticut has finished above .500 for 33 consecutive seasons. This includes six undefeated seasons. By December 21st, 2010, Auriemma had led UConn to its 89th consecutive victory. This was just one more than the all-time NCAA men’s wins record of 88 held by UCLA even today. In fact, the streak for UConn went up to 90.

With the 1,248–165 (.883) win record, Geno Auriemma currently holds the most wins and highest winning percentage among college coaches with a minimum of 10 seasons. This is at any level, men’s or women’s. According to UConn’s media guide, Auriemma became the first coach in women’s basketball history to lead a program to five consecutive Final Four appearances on two different occasions. Between 2008 to 2022, he led the Huskies to 14 consecutive Final Four appearances, setting a new record.

The coach had won his 700th game back in November 2009. By achieving this feat within just 822 total games, Auriemma became the fastest in his field to reach that milestone in college basketball. On November 2024, Auriemma finally picked up his 1,217th career win after UConn beat Fairleigh Dickinson 85-41 at Gampel Pavilion. This officially broke a tie with longtime Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer, and made Auriemma the coach with the NCAA all-time wins record, both in men’s and women’s divisions.

Geno Auriemma has not simply limited himself to the domestic level. Along with his long tenure at UConn, Geno has, at times, served as assistant coach and head coach of the USA Women’s Basketball Team. Under his guidance, the USA Women’s Basketball Team is 50-1 in official FIBA and FIBA Americas competitions. Geno secured a gold medal as an assistant coach in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. This was followed by two more gold medals, as head coach, at the 2012 London Olympics and the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Having already achieved so much, one cannot help but wonder: What is next in store for the 71-year-old? Does he plan to announce his retirement anytime soon? The former question may not be answered for a while. As for the latter, Huskies fans would have only one thing to say: “Not by a long shot”.

Geno Auriemma shut down retirement rumors amid rumoured exit connection with Paige Bueckers: “Just not right now”

Four decades later, and Geno Auriemma hasn’t lost his enthusiastic will to continue coaching the team. According to reports, Auriemma still attempts to attend every practice, remains “extremely cranky with NCAA over schedule”, and simply puts out a motivated personality that further energizes his squad. In his own words, “the things that keep me going are that I still find some satisfaction in what I’m doing. That’s probably the biggest thing for me”. As a wise person once said, however, all good things must come to an end. It is not as if Geno Auriemma does not think he is past his prime. He certainly does. Despite this, the coach still believes he wants to give more to the Huskies before finally discarding that clipboard.

“I’ve tried to look at all the reasons why people do step away. It’s certainly past my prime, to be honest with you,” said Auriemma to USA TODAY’s Blake Toppmeyer back in February. “I never set out to be doing this, period, and certainly never set out to be here for 40 years. To answer that question: I don’t know. I don’t know. I enjoy what I’m doing, to a point. I enjoy the competition. I enjoy the preparation that goes into it. I don’t enjoy a lot of what’s going on right now, and I think a lot of my contemporaries have seen where it’s going and don’t want any part of it. I’m sure I’ll get there at some point – just not right now.”

Geno Auriemma made the statement a few weeks before he spoke at a community breakfast event. According to CT Insider’s Maggie Vanoni, Auriemma revealed a truth at that time by stating, “One [WNBA eligible player] is coming back. I mean it’s gonna be my 40th year. It only would have been 39 if [Bueckers] wasn’t coming back.” The Huskies head coach reportedly had Paige Bueckers enter her name in the 2024 WNBA Draft. However, the star player ultimately chose to return to UConn for her senior year. Now, Paige Bueckers is once again expected to declare for the draft, and even come out as either the 1st or 2nd overall pick.

It’s hard to know what the future would hold for Geno Auriemma. However, whatever it will be, we know he certainly deserves some rest. After all, his vast legacy will remained untouched for generations.