4 weeks ago
Six weeks aft his squad mislaid to South Carolina successful nan Final Four, UConn coach Geno Auriemma said connected Monday that he felt “dumb” for really his postgame speech pinch Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley played retired successful beforehand of a nationalist audience.
“When I walked into nan locker room afterward pinch nan coaches, you are conscionable shaking your head, reasoning 5 much seconds, you couldn’t support it successful for 5 much seconds,” Auriemma said successful his first news convention since then.
“You conscionable consciousness dumb for nan measurement that it played out. We are each quality and we each do dumb shit.”
Auriemma sparked a firestorm of disapproval aft he approached Staley successful nan last seconds of South Carolina’s 62-48 triumph successful Phoenix and yelled astatine her.
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Coaches from some teams had to abstracted nan pair. When nan crippled yet ended, Auriemma walked disconnected nan tribunal to nan locker room without shaking hands pinch anyone from South Carolina.
Auriemma said nan speech was astir nan deficiency of a accepted pregame handshake betwixt nan coaches. He later apologized successful a written statement.
“I didn’t spot a batch of it, but that is to beryllium expected,” Auriemma said of nan backlash. “I deliberation possibly immoderate of it was warranted and immoderate of it was group person been lying successful nan weeds waiting for that moment. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done for nan game; it is what you conscionable did.
“Unfortunately, that is nan world that we unrecorded successful coming and it usually is one-sided. The group who understood what it was each astir successful a different light, they are not going to spell connected nan aerial and opportunity it. They are not going to constitute astir it because now they are going against a awesome net aliases media frenzy; they are not going to do that. I brought nan disapproval connected myself. I didn’t bring nan [stuff] that came aft it connected myself.”
Auriemma compared nan backlash to what mightiness person happened if societal media had been astir successful 1998, erstwhile he arranged for an injured Nykesha Sales to make a handbasket truthful she could group nan program’s profession scoring record.
“Immediately, it was nan worst point to ever hap to nan crippled of hoops and to sports successful general,” Auriemma said. “These things that happen, you return them each pinch a atom of salt, understand them. I did what I did, I apologized for it and I moved on.”
