"It takes two to tango": When Geno Auriemma reflected on his rivalry with UConn men's head coach Jim Calhoun
UConn coach Geno Auriemma had already etched his name in the annals of history with his incredible success at the helm of the Huskies women's basketball team before this year's March Madness. He edged further ahead in the titles column when he led the Huskies to the national championship win in April, which represented his 12th title.
Auriemma took the UConn job in 1985, and in 1986, he was joined on the men's team by Jim Calhoun, who won three national championships. Despite the duo's success as Huskies coaches, they did not get along.
During a 2015 segment of "Campus Insiders," Geno Auriemma went in-depth about his relationship with Calhoun.
"I guess it takes two to tango, they say, right?" Auriemma said (0:47). "Some people you are comfortable with, and some people you just gravitate to, and some people you just don't, and after about the third or fourth year together in the same building, it just became apparent I don't want anything to do with this for a lot of reasons.
"And to me, what's the big deal? I bet you 50% of all the schools in the country have that going on in their building right now, but their coaches aren't cool enough to let everybody know about it. I always felt like you guys are too much alike and that, basically, this little town of Storrs, Connecticut, wasn't big enough for the both of you, and you both know two Gunslingers."
When Jim Calhoun brushed off Geno Auriemma
Jim Calhoun also shared his perspective on his rivalry with Geno Auriemma during an interview with "The Vault" in 2012. This was after he retired as the UConn coach, a year after winning his third and final national championship. He brushed off Auriemma as a competitor, instead referencing coaches like former Duke Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski as his competition.
"Geno and I got along the first three or four years we got here," Calhoun said. "Then I found out that his kids were in Little League and my kids were in college. And that starts separating you to some degree.
"My competition is Mike [Krzyzewski], my competition is Roy [Williams], Jimmy [Boeheim]. Geno's probably going to end up as the greatest women's basketball coach. That's not really in my realm, world or field."
Ironically, when Jim Calhoun retired in 2012, Geno Auriemma was one of the names speculated to take the job, although he ultimately stuck with the women's team. When he won the national championship in April, Auriemma eclipsed Calhoun as the oldest coach to have ever won a national title in basketball history, and he revealed that he wasn't close to retiring.