For forty years, Geno Auriemma has dedicated his skills to making UConn the greatest program in the history of women’s basketball. But he wasn’t alone. UConn’s Associate Head Coach Chris Dailey has worked shoulder to shoulder with Auriemma as a team and uplifted the program to unprecedented heights. And as the 70-year-old Hall of Famer head coach steps into becoming the winningest coach, Dailey has something to reveal.

In an interview, Chris Dailey shared her thoughts on Auriemma’s once-in-a-lifetime achievement when the reporter asked her, “What does it mean to you that tomorrow is about you and Geno and not just him?”

Holding back her tears, Dailey gave Auriemma his flowers and said, “I don’t know of any other head coach that would be as willing to share the limelight as he is and whether it’s with me in particular in this way I just think it says everything about him and I am appreciative for you know all the responsibilities he’s given me and the trust that he has in me and being able to share this with him in this way is really special to me.”

Last week, the Huskies took a 69-58 win over the North Carolina Tar Heels. However, this victory is much bigger than it seems as it was the 1,216th win of Geno Auriemma’s career of four decades. More so, he has tied this win with Stanford’s former head coach Tara VanDerveer for most wins in Division I college basketball history.

Now, with tomorrow’s game against Fairleigh, the Hall of Famer coach stands on the verge of becoming the winningest coach in the history of NCAA Division I and surpassing VanDerveer. Moreover, it will be a celebration for the Huskies as Auriemma will complete his 40 years with the program which he and Dailey built from the ground up into what it is today.

Geno Auriemma’s humble beginnigs at UConn

The Hall of Famer mentioned how he stumbled into coaching the women’s basketball team by accident. But back in 1985, Geno Auriemma was yet to arrive in Storrs, he said he would not accept the head coaching job unless they brought Dailey as well, who was at the time, working at Rutgers. As a result, she came in as his assistant. When he came to UConn, it wasn’t in good form and in dire need of a makeover. The program took a chance on the young Auriemma to turn the program around.

It took a few years for Auriemma and Dailey to find success with the Huskies but they arrived. In 1989, the Huskies made their presence felt for the first time in both the Big East Conference regular season and tournament.

Soon, they reached the point where no one considered UConn a joke, but rather a strong women’s basketball program. Then came the recruitment of the future WNBA legend, Rebecca Lobo, through whom the program propelled itself to unprecedented avenues.

After a decade in 1995, UConn snatched its first national championship title with a 70-64 win over Tennessee. From then on, the Huskies have dominated the Big East, putting multiple regular season and tournament titles under their belt. Hence, no one underestimates the impact Auriemma has on the sport to date. He went on to win 11 National Championships, 3 Olympic gold, 6x National Coach of the Year, and many more accolades in women’s basketball as he led many current and future Hall of Famers including Maya Moore, Sue Bird, and Diana Taurasi.

The season is still young, but Geno Auriemma’s impact undoubtedly runs deep into the growth and development of women’s basketball and the powerhouse he has built in Storrs alongside his trusted AHC, Chris Dailey.