Geno Auriemma reflects on heated moment with Dawn Staley: ‘We are all human’

Geno Auriemma reflects on heated moment with Dawn Staley: ‘We are all human’

Addressing a group of reporters for the first time since the Final Four, UConn women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma said that he feels “dumb” for his heated exchange with South Carolina coach Dawn Staley after UConn’s national semifinal loss.

“When I walked into the locker room afterward with the coaches, you are just shaking your head, thinking, ‘Five more seconds, you couldn’t keep it in for five more seconds,'” Auriemma said Monday in an interview with reporters at UConn’s training facility. “You just feel dumb for the way that it played out. We are all human, and we all do dumb (stuff).”

The moment came in the final seconds of South Carolina’s 62-48 win over the Huskies, when Auriemma confronted Staley along the sideline, later saying he was complaining that she didn’t shake his hand during pregame introductions. Assistant coaches and referees separated the two coaches, and Auriemma left without shaking Staley’s hand postgame. Auriemma also complained about foul calls and implied that South Carolina had ripped Sarah Strong’s jersey, while video replays showed Strong ripping her own jersey in frustration.

Staley later said, “If I did something wrong to Geno, I had no idea what I did.” Auriemma apologized for his behavior the following morning, saying his reaction was “uncalled for.”

Auriemma has been here before. The UConn coach, who has run the program for four decades and led the Huskies to 12 national championships, recalled sparking controversy in 1998, when he devised a plan to allow an injured Nykesha Sales to score an uncontested layup to break UConn’s all-time scoring record.