The UCONN Coaches

This week, our UCONN expert Art Benedict, discusses the current coaches of the UCONN men's and women's basketball teams. If you are a UCONN fan, you have to read this article!!!!


Article by Art Benedict

I thought it would be fun this week now that we have looked as some of the players on both the UConn Men’s and Women’s basketball team’s and take a look at the two head coaches that make this fine organization run. We will start with the men’s basketball coach:

KEVIN OLLIE

September 13, 2012 was a very special day for the UConn men’s basketball team and an even more special day for Kevin Ollie. On that day, Kevin was named the head basketball coach of the men’s basketball team. He had big shoes to fill as he was replacing legendary head coach Jim Calhoun who stepped down after 26 seasons (1986-2012). Ollie came in with only two seasons of coaching experience after joining Calhoun’s staff as an assistant in 2010-2011. But let’s take a step back and look at how Kevin Ollie got to Connecticut.

Ollie's UConn history --- which began in the fall of 1991 when he reported to school as a freshman from Los Angeles, continued through four successful seasons, including two as a Husky team captain, and resumed when he returned to join Calhoun's coaching staff following a 13-year NBA career --- has come full circle. He may have only served two seasons as an assistant on Calhoun's staff, but possesses a wealth of basketball knowledge after learning from some of the finest teachers to ever coach the game, including Calhoun, Chuck Daly, Larry Brown, and George Karl.  Ollie made a decision to attend UConn more than 20 years ago, coming out of Crenshaw High School in Los Angeles. Playing on some of Calhoun's finest teams during the mid-1990s, Ollie was a four-year starting point guard and a two-time captain.

He played in 124 games for the Huskies, averaging 6.7 points and 5.0 assists. A third team All-Big East pick, his 619 assist total still ranks third on UConn's all-time list. He graduated in 1995 with a degree in Communications.

But Ollie was far more concerned with team statistics than individual ones. During his four-year UConn career, the Huskies had a record of 92-33, 51-21 in the Big East Conference and made three NCAA Tournament appearances. During Ollie's last two seasons, when he served as a team captain, UConn's record was 57-10 overall and a dazzling 32-4 in the Big East, capturing two Big East regular-season championships, and reaching the NCAA Sweet 16 and Elite Eight, respectively.

It would have been a dream season for any college coach, but for a coach of just 70 games, whose team was not even able to compete in the 2013 NCAA Tournament because of academic shortcomings of years long past, it was truly remarkable. The Huskies, who had a 12-6 mark in the new American Athletic Conference, won eight of their last nine games, 11 of their last 13, and had a 10-4 record against ranked opponents, including two wins against Florida, the overall No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. With a sparkling 52-18 coaching record, Ollie's .743 winning percentage is the highest of any coach in UConn history who coached more than 20 games. The 32-victory season is the ninth 30-win season for the Huskies.

In just his second season as the head basketball coach at the University of Connecticut and only his fourth year in coaching since retiring from the NBA, Ollie firmly established himself as one of the rising young coaching stars in the college game by guiding the Huskies to a 32-8 season in 2013-14 and the NCAA title, defeating Kentucky, 60-54, in the tourney's championship game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

This season the UConn men are struggling after losing some star players off of last season’s championship season including NBA bound guard Shabazz Napier. After beating East Carolina last night 65-52, they improved to 12-9 overall and 5-4 in American Athletic Conference play. Ollie’s goal as always is to play at a high level game in and game out.

When asked about Kevin Ollie, former UConn coach Jim Calhoun had this to say: "Kevin Ollie epitomizes what we want a UConn athlete, a UConn student, to be all about. When you say that about somebody, that's heavy stuff," Calhoun said. "Any fox hole you need to jump in, there's your guy. Anytime you need a person who won't quit, there's your guy."

Born in Dallas on Dec. 27, 1972, and raised in Los Angeles, Ollie resides in Glastonbury with wife Stephanie, who is also a UConn grad (1997), and their two children, son Jalen (born 6/22/96) and daughter Cheyenne (born 2/6/01.

GENO AURIEMMA 
 

The head coach of the University of Connecticut Women’s basketball coach hit a milestone that has only been reached by 6 other coaches and that’s career victory number 900. That victory tied him with former Texas coach Jody Conradt for fifth place on the all-time women's list, 198 wins behind former Tennessee coach Pat Summitt. And it took him only 1,034 games to get there.  Geno has spent 29 seasons with the UConn women and has transformed this team into a powerhouse. Under his guidance, the Huskies have been transformed from a program with only one winning season, to its current state, which includes nine national titles, 15 Final Fours, five perfect seasons (1995, 2002, 2009, 2010, 2014) and 39 Conference titles, all since Auriemma's arrival in 1985. On the court, his success includes nine national championships, including a record 90-game winning streak and a spotless 40-0 mark during the 2013-14 campaign. Off the court, success means a flawless, 100 percent graduation rate among four-year players and one of the most beloved and followed sports teams in the country. Auriemma’s was inducted into both the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame (Springfield, Mass.) and the Women Basketball Hall of Fame (Knoxville, Tenn.) in 2006. In addition, Auriemma recently finished a successful four-year term as he was named the head coach of the U.S. National Team, which won the gold medal at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. Auriemma's squad, which included six former Huskies, posted a spotless 8-0 record in route to the gold medal. Auriemma agreed to serve a second term as the National Team coach from 2013-16.

He is the first coach in women's basketball history to guide a team to five consecutive Final Four appearances on two separate occasions and the current run of seven-consecutive Final Four appearances is also a record. Auriemma is a seven-time national coach-of-the-year and has been named the Conference coach-of-the-year 11 times. In all Auriemma has garnered a combined total of 24 National Coach of the Year honors. And the stats speak for themselves:

Nine National Championships:	1995, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014
All-Time:	879-133 (.869/29 yrs.)
UConn Record:	879-133 (.869/29 yrs.)
NCAA Tournament:	97-17 (.851/26 yrs.)
Conference Regular Season:	420-61 (.873/29 yrs.)
Conference Tournament:	69-10 (.873/29 yrs.)
Conference Overall:	489-71 (.873/29 yrs.)

The Huskies have won the conference tournament crown in eight of the past 10 seasons. Connecticut extended its streak of consecutive NCAA Regional appearances to 21 straight and advanced to the NCAA Final Four for the 15th time in the program's history. Auriemma also guided UConn to its 19th 30-win season in 2013-14 and its 19th in the past 21 seasons.

After beating former UConn alumni Jamelle Elliot by 50 points on Tuesday night, UConn improved to 21-1 overall (the only blemish was the loss to Stanford early in the season) and 11-0 in the American Athletic Conference UConn is poised to take on top ranked South Carolina this coming Monday.

Auriemma is a 1981 graduate of West Chester with a B.A. in political science. He resides in Manchester, Conn., with his wife Kathy. They have three children and two grandchildren.

And let us not forget, as well as Coach Auriemma reaching the 900 victory club, his assistant coach Chris Daley also reached that milestone as she has been with Geno since the beginning. Congratulations CD.

And one final thought. The UConn men and women’s teams have won the National Championships in the same year not only once, but they have done it twice. So there is UConn basketball and then there is everyone else. Go Huskies!!!