Some famous University of Connecticut alumni are getting ready to step back on campus! The Huskies’ head coach on the women’s side, Geno Auriemma, and associate head coach Chris Dailey are in for a treat from the school. Entering their 40th season with UConn, the pair’s history of winning has been unmatched. One of UConn’s current brightest stars, Paige Bueckers, and a former superstar, Nika Muhl, couldn’t be more excited about their coaches!

The school is planning a series of celebrations throughout the 2024-25 campaign to honor the pair. When it comes to the Division I basketball all-time wins list, recently retired Tara VanDerveer tops it, but Auriemma is just three victories behind.

Per the website’s official announcement, he “has won more than anyone in the history of college basketball since being hired at UConn in 1985. He has a record 11 national championships, guided his team to separate win streaks of 111 and 90 games, reached 14 consecutive Final Fours between 2008-22 and has collected 59 conference titles.”

Announcing the 40th-year celebrations on Instagram, the team’s account posted a picture of the two coaches, writing, “UConn will celebrate Geno Auriemma and Chris Dailey’s 40th season in Storrs in 2024-25!” Posting this on her Instagram story, Paige Bueckers wrote, “My goats.” Similarly, her former teammate Nika Muhl reposted the same announcement on her story, writing, “🐐x2.” Given their unmatched record, GOAT is certainly the right term to use!

Did you know one of the first decisions Auriemma made after joining the Huskies as their head coach was to hire Chris Dailey? Well, in February this year, after winning his 1200th career game, the head coach said, “I knew very, very early, before we played our first game or I even had the job yet that if she would agree to come here and coach with me and us, we could be good.”

“Good” is an understatement for everything they’ve achieved together. Auriemma added, “Obviously, nobody envisioned this, but that decision, I think, made every other decision possible. By getting that one right, we set ourselves for something like this to happen.”

While Auriemma is a Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer, he and Dailey share a similar achievement – both are in the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame. Auriemma was inducted in 2006, while Dailey graced their halls in 2018 – one of only two assistant coaches in the Hall of Fame. Is it any wonder these esteemed personalities are receiving a season-long tribute?

The main event will be held on Wednesday, November 20, at Gampel Pavilion in the presence of alumni. Any and every student-athlete to ever have played under Auriemma and Dailey’s guidance will be invited back for the Huskies’ contest against Fairleigh Dickinson. It will be a historic night, no matter whether you look on or off the court.

Muhl might be found in the audience while her ‘twin,’ Bueckers, will be in attendance in Huskies colors. While one is a Seattle Storm rookie in the year of Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, the other is on her way to making a successful draft class next year. Now, with the pair having made their feelings on Auriemma and Dailey clear, what do the Huskies’ coaches think of their students?

While Paige Bueckers is a “different star,” Geno Auriemma and Nika Muhl still “text every day”

When injuries sidelined Paige Bueckers last season, just how well she could keep performing was the question on everyone’s minds. But Geno Auriemma and Chris Dailey were having none of it. The Huskies player has been working with Auriemma and Dailey since 2020. “Paige is a different star than maybe any that I’ve ever coached,” Auriemma said in April this year.

“The one thing that Paige is very, very good at, which I think all great players and great leaders, they’re very, very great – they’re very, very good at hiding the things that will make them look like they’re struggling or suffering or they’re not confident anymore.”

Meanwhile, we all remember the emotional farewell between Nika Muhl and her coach after the draft concluded, and the Croatian was in line to go to Seattle. Months after that, Muhl revealed a few days ago that they still keep in touch, “Yeah, of course. He texts me every day. We talk every day. Basketball-related, non-basketball-related, but he makes sure that he checks up on me as well as every other coach on my team.”

While Muhl has proudly graduated from UConn and carries her coaches’ legacy in the WNBA, Paige Bueckers will probably do the same next year. And for as long as the school keeps inviting alumni to honor their coaches, even if no one else comes, these two former teammates will be among the loudest of those cheering for Geno Auriemma and Chris Dailey.