​Geno Auriemma has had plenty to say in recent days. The UConn women’s basketball coach spent a couple of hours dissecting the game while serving as a color commentator for ESPN’s broadcast of the Dallas Wings versus New York Liberty on Tuesday night. Earlier in the week, he joined the “Sports Media with Richard Deitsch” podcast, weighing in on the controversy surrounding hard fouls aimed at WNBA star Caitlin Clark.
During that podcast, Auriemma also addressed the current state of officiating in the WNBA, returning to another hot topic—the NCAA officials’ calls in UConn’s Final Four matchup with South Carolina, a game the Huskies lost 62-48. “Yeah, I mean, obviously, I have a lot of thoughts on it because we just played in an NCAA semifinal, where there was not a foul called against the other team in the entire third quarter, in a game that looked like the old Philadelphia Flyers versus the New York Rangers,” Auriemma said.
After the game, Auriemma and South Carolina coach Dawn Staley had a confrontation during the postgame handshake. Auriemma apologized in the days that followed. In what may have been a response to his podcast appearance, Staley tweeted “gloves off” on Monday afternoon after the development came to light.
Deitsch pressed Auriemma on whether the rift with Staley had been repaired. “Yeah, why wouldn’t we be?” he replied. “If I told you how many times there are issues between coaches that may go unseen, bubbling beneath the surface, you’d be shocked. But at the same time it’s competitive, it’s emotional. You let things interfere with what you’re doing and what you’re trying to do, and I just think that’s human nature. That doesn’t mean that you’re anything different than you were before that, not at all, not at all.”
Looking ahead, UConn is set to host South Carolina in the regular season on November 24, a matchup that will be highly anticipated by fans and analysts alike as both programs continue to be at the forefront of women’s college basketball.