UConn’s Geno Auriemma Becomes 3rd Coach in NCAA Basketball History with 1,200 Wins

Erin WalshFebruary 8, 2024

G Fiume/Getty Images

UConn women’s basketball head coach Geno Auriemma established himself as one of the best in the game years ago, but he made a little more history on Wednesday night in Storrs as his Huskies took down Seton Hall 67-34.

Auriemma became just the third coach in NCAA basketball history—men’s or women’s—to reach 1,200 wins, joining former Duke men’s basketball head coach Mike Krzyzewski and Stanford women’s basketball head coach Tara VanDerveer.

UConn Women’s Basketball @UConnWBBJust the third to 1,200 wins and he did it the fastest.

There’s only one Geno Auriemma 🐐 pic.twitter.com/32wuvjZbVF

Auriemma is also the fastest coach to reach the 1,200-win mark.

Krzyzewski won 1,202 games before he retired in 2022 and VanDerveer won her 1,203rd game last month to become the winningest coach in NCAA basketball history, men’s or women’s.

“To come in here and always look at 13, 14, 15,000 or whatever it is, it’s something to really, really be proud of because we helped make something happen that never existed and no one ever thought it could happen, so I’m pretty proud of that,” Auriemma said after the game.

UConn on SNY @SNYUConn”We helped make something happen that never existed and no one ever thought it could happen”

Geno Auriemma talks with @ChelseaSherrod after his 1,200th career win: pic.twitter.com/AAXEhyPZv7

While Auriemma sits just six wins behind VanDerveer, he doesn’t anticipate ever claiming the top spot.

“I could probably say, with a great deal of certainty, that I’ll never be No. 1 in wins, I don’t think that will happen,” Auriemma said after the game, per ESPN.com. “And I’m still going to enjoy my wine and I’m going to sleep good tonight.”

Auriemma has been head coach of UConn’s women’s program since 1985, turning the Huskies into a powerhouse in his 39 seasons at the helm.

The 69-year-old has led UConn to a 1,200-160 record, 11 championships and 22 Final Four appearances during his tenure. He has been named Naismith National Coach of the Year eight times, AP National Coach of the Year nine times and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006.

Auriemma has also coached numerous current and former WNBA stars in Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, Maya Moore, Tina Charles and Breanna Stewart, among others.

“I’m sure if you asked Coach when he started and you said, ‘Forty years later you’ll have 11 national championships, 1,200 wins,’ he wouldn’t believe it,” Taurasi said, per Carl Adamec of CT Insider. “What he’s doing is unheard of and will never happen again.

“I mean, you’ll never find someone that will stay at one place that long. It doesn’t happen anymore and it will never be done again.”

UConn is currently the No. 11 ranked team in the country and sits first in the Big East with a 20-4 record. South Carolina (21-0) and Iowa (21-2) remain the top-ranked teams in the nation and are the favorites for the NCAA title.

However, Auriemma’s squad should be a threat to make a championship run come tournament time.