UConn Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma may have apologized publicly following his heated exchange with South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley on Friday, but it does not sound like he’s actually apologized to her directly.
During the 62-48 season-ending loss, Auriemma blasted the officials and called out South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley during a TV interview with ESPN’s Holly Rowe.
“There were six fouls called that quarter — all of them against us,” Auriemma told Holly Rowe on the broadcast. “And they’ve been beating the [expletive] out of our guys down there the entire game. I’m not making excuses, ’cause we haven’t been able to make a shot. But this is ridiculous.
“Their coach rants and raves on the sideline and calls the referee some names you don’t want to hear. And now we get 6 to 0, and I got a kid with a ripped jersey, and they go, ‘I didn’t see it.’ Come on, man. It’s for a national championship.”
Things got worse in the closing moments of the game when Auriemma approached Staley, leading to a heated interaction on the court, which Auriemma suggested came after Staley didn’t meet at midcourt to shake his hand before the game.
“For 41 years I’ve been coaching and, I don’t know, 25 Final Fours. The protocol is before the game you meet at half court. Anybody see that before? Two coaches meet at half court and they shake hands, correct? You ever see it? They announced it on the loud speaker,” Auriemma said. “I waited there for like three minutes. So it is what it is.”
During his postgame press conference, Auriemma then made it clear that he had no intention of apologizing for anything that he said to Holly Rowe during the game. However, UConn did eventually issue an apologetic statement from Auriemma.
“There’s no excuse for how I handled the end of the game vs. South Carolina,” Auriemma said in the statement released by UConn. “It’s unlike what I do and what our standard is here at Connecticut. I want to apologize to the staff and the team at South Carolina. It was uncalled for in how I reacted.
“The story should be how well South Carolina played, and I don’t want my actions to detract from that. I’ve had a great relationship with their staff, and I sincerely want to apologize to them.”
However, it does not sound like Auriemma ever reached out to Staley personally.
During Sunday night’s national title game, ESPN color commentator and UConn alum Rebecca Lobo said on-air that Auriemma had reached out to Staley to personally apologize.
“Geno Auriemma was certainly wrong in that moment, which he acknowledged in that apology yesterday,” Lobo said via USA Today. “I know he has also since reached out personally to Dawn to apologize. It’s unfortunate that it happened.”
However, after the game, Staley did set the record straight as she made it clear that she has not heard from Auriemma since the incident.
“That’s a Geno question … I have not heard from Geno,” Staley told reporters. “… I don’t know if he text or not, but … it’s UCLA’s day, right? Let’s keep (the conversation) UCLA, them winning the national championship. I will address all of that at another time.”
It’s worth noting that Staley did acknowledge that she had over 800 text messages after the game, and there’s a chance that he did reach out over text and she simply hadn’t seen it yet.
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