It's a big night in Storrs! UConn Women's Basketball Head Coach Geno Auriemma and Associate Head Coach Chris Dailey are both making a big milestone. Auriemma could set a record Wednesday night, too.
It kicked off at 6:30 p.m. in front of a sold out crowd at Gampel Pavilion with a pre-game ceremony celebrating 40 years in Storrs for Auriemma and Dailey.
More than 60 alums who played for the coaches throughout the 40 years will attend as they celebrate the milestone and honor their legacies.
UConn women have been dominating for years under Auriemma's belt with 11 national championships, 23 Final Fours, and 35 straight NCAA tournament appearances.
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"How fortunate I've been to be healthy to be able to attract the kind of people we need to attract to come here to have the kind of support we need from the school, from the fanbase," Auriemma said.
"We never looked at what we didn't have. We always focused on what we had. At the beginning, we really just had our vision and each other to kind of say what we were going to do and we were able to convince enough people to believe that same dream," Dailey added.
By the numbers, Auriemma has had 1,216 career wins with UConn with a winning percentage of 88.2% and an average of 31 wins per season.
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After Friday night's game, the 1216th win tied Auriemma with former Stanford coach Tara Vanderveer for the all-time winningest coach in NCAA Division I history.
"I mean that's great to have honestly a coach with that much energy and at the age he is I don't even think of it sometimes, I'm just like, he's still going at it," said UConn women's basketball point guard KK Arnold.
"He gives credit to everybody around him and he doens't really take it for himself but what he's built here. It's here because of him so. He definitely down plays it," added UConn women's basketball guard Paige Bueckers.
Auriemma is set to break the record on Wednesday as UConn women's basketball plays against Fairleigh Dickinson. If they win, Auriemma will hold the record.
