“We got Diana, and you don’t,” Geno Auriemma famously said during the 2002-03 season. That was Geno after Connecticut had won three of the past four NCAA titles, the second-most in history at the time—all thanks to Diana Taurasi, who did “whatever it takes to win.” Even after transitioning to professional basketball, her winning mentality never wavered. But now, after two decades, she’s officially calling it a career. However, while she’s retired, Geno’s faith in Taurasi remains unwavering.

And the UConn head coach has every reason to believe in her legacy. Taurasi’s résumé is packed with accolades: she is the WNBA’s all-time leading scorer, a three-time WNBA champion, a three-time NCAA champion, and a six-time Olympic gold medalist. The titles she owns are beyond the reach of even most WNBA stars.

“It’s hard to put into words, it really is, what this means. When someone’s defined the game, when someone’s had such an impact on so many people and so many places, you can’t define it with a quote,” shared Auriemma, who watched Taurasi bury buckets during the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games. “Until someone comes along and eclipses what she’s done, then yes, she is the GOAT.”

The 42-year-old phenom won her last Olympic gold at the Paris Games and leads the WNBA in all-time scoring with 10,646 points—nearly 3,000 more than second-place Tina Charles. Indeed, her legacy will be tough to match. But for Taurasi, that’s a conversation for another time. With retirement, her focus now shifts to her family.

With her two young children, Leo and Isla, and her beloved wife, Penny Taylor, by her side, she’s looking forward to school drop-offs, quality time at home, and even playing the role of a “disgruntled assistant mom coach” for Leo’s basketball team. For now, that coaching role is held by Taylor, Taurasi’s former Mercury teammate and FIBA Hall of Famer.

No doubt, Taurasi has had a legendary career. But a part of her excellence belongs to Geno too.

Despite being recognised as a “baby” by fellow players, Geno shaped Diana Taurasi’s basketball greatness.

When Taurasi first visited UConn for recruitment, she was still just a kid, according to Sue Bird, who is two years older than her. “She was a baby, but we got her in, and she was in the middle of the dance floor doing all kinds of West Coast dance moves,” Bird recalled. “She had some sort of, like, robot situation happening.”

But once she joined the team, Auriemma pushed Taurasi every chance he got. One of her biggest weaknesses? She was reluctant to take offensive fouls. So during practice, Geno made her stand in the lane and ordered each player to dribble down from half-court and run into her.

Her job? Take the hit, fall, and draw a proper charge. “I didn’t fall once,” Taurasi admitted. “I was like, ‘Nah, I’m good.’” So, Auriemma tossed her out of practice.

But that wasn’t the only role Geno played in shaping Taurasi’s journey. UConn’s future legend originally wanted to wear No. 0. “She goes, ‘OK, I’ll wear double zero,’” Auriemma recalled. “So that’s what we’re dealing with.”

Believing that zero carried negative implications for a player of such great caliber, Geno pushed her to wear No. 3 instead. And the rest is history—Taurasi carried that number throughout her college and professional careers.

And, as Auriemma predicted, she became a player nobody can match, even today.