On the All-Time CBB Wins List, Geno Auriemma of UConn surpasses Mike Krzyzewski of Duke University.
Head coach Geno Auriemma of UConn women’s basketball passed Mike Krzyzewski for the second-most wins in Division I history on Monday after leading the team to a 73-53 victory over No. 21 Creighton.
With 1,203 victories in his remarkable career, Tara Van Derveer, the head coach of Stanford, and Auriemma are still in contention for the record.
Van Derveer surpassed Coach K. Stanford less than a month ago. Stanford has won six additional games since then, giving its coach 1,209 victories overall. If Auriemma can outlast Van Derveer on the sidelines, he will undoubtedly have surpassed him by the time he quits.
There has been much conjecture on whether Auriemma’s career has been shorter than people believe in light of the recent departures of other well-known coaches, such as Coach K.
March is his 70th birthday, and he hasn’t hidden his feelings about how the transfer gateway and the laws governing name, image, and likeness have made his work more difficult.
“I think that’s why coaches get into coaching—to have those kinds of relationships with their players,” he said, according to Dan Gelston of the Associated Press. “As that’s disappearing somewhat, maybe, so is the fun of coaching, to be honest.” Auriemma went on to say that it’s a “different kind of fun” than in the past.
The Hall of Fame has nothing further to prove at this time. It will be challenging for another coach to equal his 11 national titles and 22 Final Four appearances, given the increased parity in women’s basketball. Both coaches, though, might last a very long time.
We can assume Auriemma intends to stay for at least another year because star player Paige Bueckers will return to UConn for the 2024–25 season after using up her whole eligibility.