This Just In — Geno Auriemma is sorry. So sorry.
The NCAA semi-final women’s game between the until-then undefeated UConn Huskies and South Carolina’s very strong Gamecocks was an unexpected, lopsided slugfest with the Gamecocks coming out on top.
A lopsided score in a UConn women’s game is nothing new. They average winning in double digits season after season, dominating their sport. Full stop. Watch just a handful of interviews with other coaches talking about the UConn program and their standard of excellence and you’ll hear little else but fawning admiration.
One coach said of UConn, “We’re lucky to have them. They set such a high bar for their players and for the program. It’s the gold standard. We all want to get there. We all want to play against that. They’re the best.”
Not just the players. Not just the coaching staff. Not just the program. UConn’s fans and their support of women’s sports is second to none.
Last year, UConn wiped the floor with South Carolina, dominating its way to yet another championship. South Carolina’s Hall of Fame Coach Dawn Staley shook hands and moved on to prepare for a hoped-for rematch.
This year, for many reasons, the rematch in the semi-final game went South Carolina’s way. Coach Auriemma, it’s fair to say, lost more than the game. He lost his composure at the end of the game, resulting in an embarrassing snit that left Coach Staley without a congratulatory handshake and the UConn team on the court without their coach as he stormed off to the locker room.
Disgraceful. Unprofessional. Inexcusable.
For the next day or two, we saw just how inexcusable as UConn released a bloodless apology …perhaps better than nothing. Yesterday, came the apology that seemed to have actually come from Auriemma himself, explaining that he’d spoken with Coach Staley and apologized to her and her staff, then describing his regret for letting down his players and his university.
UConn head coach Geno Auriemma reacts during the second half of a woman’s NCAA college basketball tournament semifinal game between UConn and South Carolina at the Final Four, Friday, April 3, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
That’s more like it. There’s a lot more at stake than the personal embarrassment of behaving like a jackass at work. He’s risking his recruiting, his organization’s reputation for excellence and high standard for integrity.
He wasn’t apologizing for losing the game. As he pointed out, he’s lost more final four games than any other coach … because he does a volume business. What he put in jeopardy is that very very high bar that he’s been holding up for 30 years in Storrs — “the UConn way” … the right way.
A contributor here on Chapelboro recently observed his pride in this standard being associated with Carolina during the years (and after) of Dean Smith’s time as coach of the Heels. Many of his examples came from off the basketball court – civil rights advocacy and so forth.
The dismissal of Coach Davis seems an end to that era, he wrote, but I’m not sure we can know this until we see an important and as yet unseen thing — what happens next.
As with Auriemma’s tantrum, the steps of making proper apologies and making sure that those who receive them are satisfied, are the next steps to closing an unfortunate chapter. So too can be seen in what happens with Carolina’s new coach and how he approaches the program.
Like many of us who love Carolina, I’m still a little salty about seeing Coach Davis move on. I certainly wish him every possible success. I hope with everything I have left in the tank that Coach Malone brings joy and success to the Tar Heels next year.
In the meantime, congrats to Tom Jenson’s Michigan Wolverines for a great championship, eliminating those other Huskies and making my husband chant “We’re #2!” after the game was over.
And now, back to our regular programming!
Jean Bolduc is a freelance writer and is the author of “African Americans of Durham & Orange Counties: An Oral History” (History Press, 2016) and has served on Orange County’s Human Relations Commission, The Alliance of AIDS Services-Carolina, the Orange County Housing Authority Board of Commissioners, and the Orange County Schools’ Equity Task Force. She was a featured columnist and reporter for the Chapel Hill Herald and the News & Observer.
Readers can reach Jean via email – [email protected] and via Twitter @JeanBolduc
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