When UConn HC Geno Auriemma admitted how baseball helped him educate himself: "It was a god given thing for me"
Unlike John Calipari, the UConn Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma is an immigrant to the United States. Born in Montella, Italy, Auriemma moved to Pennsylvania at the age of seven, facing the challenge of adapting to a new language and culture.
When asked about his transition in a March 2023 interview with "Origin Sports", Auriemma credited baseball and school for helping him gain fluency. The coach claimed that he learned the ability to pick things up through baseball and the art of focus through school.
"Sports," Geno Auriemma said (5:57). "I fell in love with baseball and I happen to have a kid living next door to my aunt's house because we lived with my aunt and uncle. We happen to live across the street from an elementary school that had a playground."
"So, we would spend every chance that we had over at this playground, throwing the ball around and learning how to catch and learning how to swing the bat and through that. You have to figure things out. You have to learn and then when you're at school, I think I learned the art of paying attention. I don't have it anymore but I was really good at it when I was young. You learn by watching, you learn by listening and I had that ability to do that. It was a god-given thing for me, it's not something that I had to work really hard at."
Auriemma graduated from high school in 1972 and attended Montgomery County Junior College, where he met his wife Kathy. He then transferred to West Chester State University.
Alongside his studies, Auriemma balanced a coaching role with Bishop McDevitt High School and worked as a grocery store employee, construction worker and bartender to make ends meet. He became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1994.
Geno Auriemma is the winningest coach in college basketball history
In his 40th year as UConn’s coach, Geno Auriemma became the winningest coach (men’s and women’s) in college basketball history after the Huskies defeated FDU 85–41 on Nov. 20.
The win marked Auriemma’s 1217th victory, putting him ahead of former Team USA and legendary Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer, who retired as the record-holder in 2024. Auriemma also holds the men’s and women’s basketball records for most NCAA titles. His 11 championships overtake legendary John Wooden’s 10 titles and match the entire UCLA Bruins’ 11 championship wins.
Auriemma has also led Team USA’s women’s basketball team to an undefeated record and multiple gold medal runs from 2009 to 2016.