It’s been just over a month since the South Carolina Gamecocks defeated the UConn Huskies in the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament Final Four, 62-48.
That statement win gave Dawn Staley and her squad major bragging rights as they reached the championship game, ending Azzi Fudd’s college career without her claiming another championship. It also featured a heated postgame exchange that went viral, courtesy of UConn head coach Geno Auriemma.
The Huskies’ head coach launched into a tirade at Staley after the final horn sounded, rather than simply congratulating her on her team’s effort. He initially suggested it was due to Staley not adhering to a pregame handshake protocol, but it went beyond that.
It was a bad look for Auriemma at the time, and he realized it. Several days later, he apologized for what he had done. While UConn’s women’s basketball team won’t play any games for months, Auriemma spoke with the media about that “dumb” moment he still regrets, but also called attention to some of the harsh attacks against him.
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Auriemma explained that after analyzing where he went right or wrong in his exchange with Staley after the painful loss, he regretted what he’d done.
“When I walked into the locker room afterward with the coaches, you are just shaking your head, thinking, ‘Five more seconds, you know, you couldn’t keep it in for five more seconds,'” he told the media.
“You just feel like a [expletive] for the way it played out,” Auriemma said, adding, “We’re all human, and we all do [expletive].”
He called some of the strong reactions to what he did “warranted,” while he believes some of them may have been people “lying in the weeds waiting for that moment” to criticize him.
“So, yeah, it doesn’t matter what you’ve done for the game, it’s what you just did,” he said. “Unfortunately, that’s the world that we live in today, and it usually is one-sided.”
Auriemma admitted he brought the criticism on himself, just not the other “bulls*** that came after that.” That seems accurate, as many individuals probably didn’t like Auriemma as a coach ahead of the incident and had further justification to dislike and attack him after he yelled at Staley.
There were no fines given to Auriemma for that incident. Instead, his punishment has been seeing various athletes, including former players, call him out over what he did, as well as wrestling internally with his postgame tirade. He’ll likely be haunted by it elsewhere, such as in opponents’ arenas, from heckling fans.
He’s had over a month to reflect on that heated exchange and seems to regret what he did. If he had repeatedly done this to other coaches after games, one might have reason to truly discredit what he’s done as a coach, which already has him in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
The UConn head coach has apologized for the incident, and he and Staley have since spoken about it. The biggest takeaway from this should be that Auriemma is growing from a bad moment in his career, rather than doubling down on what he did or embracing a role as a despicable villain in sports.
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