UConn head coach Geno Auriemma said South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley “deserved better from me” following the Huskies’ loss to the Gamecocks in the Final Four on April 3.
Auriemma issued a second apology following the postgame exchange he initiated with Staley after UConn’s 62-48 loss to South Carolina. Auriemma initially apologized to South Carolina’s staff on Saturday, but the 72-year-old followed up with a second statement that mentioned Staley by name on Tuesday.
Advertisement
“This morning, Dawn Staley and I spoke about our interaction after the game last Friday. I apologized to Dawn, her staff and her team,” Auriemma wrote. “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.”
Auriemma and Staley got into a heated confrontation in the waning seconds of their Women’s Final Four game on Friday, April 3. ESPN cameras caught the two coaches walking toward each other for the postgame handshake before Auriemma made some comments to Staley. That ignited a brief shouting match between the two, with assistant coaches and officials getting between the two women’s basketball stalwarts.
After the final buzzer rang, cameras captured Auriemma heading toward the UConn locker room without getting in the handshake line again with South Carolina’s coaches and players.
Advertisement
“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 continued in his statement. “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.”
Both Auriemma and Staley expressed similar sentiments about moving on and turning the page from the incident.
Staley initially largely declined to comment on the confrontation and Auriemma’s first apology during the 2026 NCAA Tournament to avoid detracting attention from the players. But two days after UCLA defeated South Carolina in the national championship game, Staley broke her silence.
“I spoke with Geno, and I want to be clear — I have a great deal of respect for him and what he’s meant to this game,” Staley said in the statement, putting to bed speculation on whether Auriemma reached out. “One moment doesn’t define a career, and it doesn’t change the impact he’s had on growing women’s basketball. The standard at UConn is what it is because of him, and that’s something this game has benefited from.”
Advertisement
Staley continued: “So, I’m asking everyone to turn the page. Let’s refocus on what matters most — continuing to elevate our game, creating opportunities and pushing it forward.”
Auriemma apologized on Saturday to South Carolina’s team and staff in a statement, saying, “there’s no excuse” for how he acted in the final seconds of the game. He did not mention Staley’s name in the statement specifically.
“There’s no excuse for how I handled the end of the game vs. South Carolina. It’s unlike what I do and what our standard is here at Connecticut,” Auriemma wrote in the statement. “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.”
Contributing: John Leuzzi
Advertisement
Reach USA TODAY National Women’s Sports Reporter Cydney Henderson at chenderson@gannett.com and follow her on X at @CydHenderson.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: UConn’s Geno Auriemma says Dawn Staley ‘deserved better’ in second apology
