Geno Auriemma, UConn Agree to Contract Extension as Women's CBB Coach Through 2025
May 21, 2021
The University of Connecticut announced Friday it signed women's head basketball coach Geno Auriemma to a five-year contract extension through the Huskies' 2024-25 season.
The new deal is retroactive to the 2020-21 campaign and includes an annual base salary of $600,000 plus of media, consulting and speaking appearances fees worth $2.2 million in the first season. Auriemma's base salary will increase by $100,000 each year of the deal and includes postseason incentives meaning it's worth "at least $15 million," per Alexa Philippou of the Hartford Courant.
Auriemma, 67, has led UConn to 21 Final Four appearances and 11 national championships since taking over the program in 1985. He owns a career record of 1,119-144 record (.886 winning percentage) in 36 seasons.
His new contract includes a variety of incentives based on the team's performance and the option to receive either a job within the Huskies' athletic department with a $500,000 annual salary or a one-time $1.5 million payment if he retires or resigns from coaching in good standing, per Philippou.
Last July, Auriemma joked COVID-19 quarantine requirements that forced him to stay in the same spot for an extended time pushed him even further away from retirement thoughts, though.
"This is the longest I've been in one place in my life. I've been in Connecticut since the middle of March," he told reporters. "If this is what retirement is like, I've got no time for this. I'm not ready for this. No way, no how. I can't do this."
Although UConn hasn't won a national title since 2016, when the Huskies won their fourth straight championship, the program has retained powerhouse status with at least 28 wins and no more than three losses over the past five years. It reached the 2021 Final Four where it fell to Arizona.
The current Huskies roster features Paige Bueckers, one of the most prized recruits in recent history, and they added the second-best group of 2021 prospects, per ESPN.
Auriemma, an Italy native who grew up in Pennsylvania, has solidified his status as one of the greatest coaches in history between his success at UConn and leading the U.S. national team to three Olympic gold medals in women's basketball.
The contract extension should end any further questions about his short-term status.