Over the weekend, UConn head coach Geno Auriemma got into a heated exchange with South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley during his team’s blowout loss. Now, after initially refusing to apologize and later issuing an apology that did not even mention Staley’s name, he has broken his silence on the matter.
During the 62-48 season-ending loss, Auriemma blasted the officials and called out 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 even more ugly in the closing moments of the game when Auriemma approached Staley, leading to a heated interaction on the court until the two were ultimately separated.
While Auriemma initially refused to apologize for his antics during his postgame press conference, he later issued a statement apologizing for how he handled the end of the game.
“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, Auriemma’s statement did not mention Staley by name, and Staley revealed on Sunday that she had not heard from him directly. Apparently, that has since changed.
On Tuesday evening, Auriemma broke his silence on the matter as he offered a public apology directly to Staley, revealing that the two of them had spoken privately and agreed to “move on.”
“This morning, Dawn Staley and I spoke about our interaction after the game last Friday. I apologized to Dawn, her staff and her team. I’ve lost more games in the Final Four than any coach in history. But Friday I lost something more important. I lost myself,” Auriemma wrote in a statement.
“Those who know me know I have nothing but respect and admiration for the game and the coaches who coach it. Dawn and her team deserved to win, and they deserved better from me,” the statement continued. “Women’s basketball deserved better. My university, my athletes, my former players and our fans deserved better.”
“Dawn and I have agreed to move on, and we hope the focus will shift back to the growth in women’s basketball. The game deserves it.”
Clearly, both Staley and Auriemma are ready to put this behind them.
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