UConn's Geno Auriemma Becomes Oldest Coach to Win MCBB, WCBB Title in NCAA D-1 History

UConn Huskies women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma became the oldest coach to win a Division I basketball title in either the men's or women's sports following the team's 12th championship on Sunday.

"Well, all those other coaches had the good sense to not stick around until they were 71," Auriemma said, per ESPN's Michael Voepel following the 82-59 win over the South Carolina Gamecocks.

With a March birthday, Auriemma was 71 years and 14 days old at the time of the victory on Sunday. The previous record for the oldest winning coach in women's Division I basketball was held by Stanford's Tara VanDerveer, who won the title in 2021 at 67 years and 282 days old. In men's Division I, the oldest winning coach was UConn's Jim Calhoun, who was 68 years and 329 days old when his team won in 2011.

The UConn coach secured his 12th championship since taking over the Huskies in 1985, but this is his first title since 2016, when Breanna Stewart's incredible tenure at UConn ended with four consecutive championships.

"There was a big part of my inner circle of people that I trust that were hoping that after the Stewie fourth in a row that I should have called it a day back then," Auriemma continued, per Voepel. "That would have been apropos, I guess -- ride off into the sunset."

"But ... you make the decision you're not finished yet, and then three, four years go by, and people start telling you that UConn is not UConn anymore and it's somebody else's turn. And then five years go by, and six years go by, and seven years go by," Auriemma said, per Voepel.

Little did Auriemma know that he would come across the incredible Paige Bueckers in 2020, who would go on to be the 2021 Naismith Award winner, 2021 AP Player of the Year, 2021 Wooden Award winner, 2025 Wade Trophy winner and three-time First Team AP All-American.

As the all-time winningest coach in college basketball history (1,250-165), with 24 Final Four appearances and a 12-1 record in championship games, Auriemma has experienced a lot and is beginning to admit that his journey has been a remarkable one.

"We all feel our age at some point," Auriemma said, per Voepel. "We don't like to admit that we're older because we still act younger because of the people that we're dealing with. A lot of my friends that are my age that haven't done what I've done with who I've done it with ... they look way older, act way older. Because they've lost the ability to be a kid because they're not around kids."

Hanging around young players has helped keep Auriemma feeling young, but he acknowledges that there will come a point when the decision to step away will be "out of his hands."

"So, yeah, I may be 71 number-wise, but I think otherwise I'm more able to do stuff with those young people because I'm around them every day and they rub off on me," Auriemma said, per Voepel. "Does that mean I can do this for another X number of years? No, because, you know, wine is good for you, too, and if you're around it all the time, after a while you wake up and you go, 'That was really bad, I had too much fun.'"

For now, the future is on hold as Auriemma and the Huskies celebrate their national championship.