Phoenix– Yukon Coach Geno Auriemma apologized South Carolina staff for his emotional outburst at Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley in the final seconds of their national semifinal in the women’s Final Four on Saturday.
“There is no excuse for how I handled the end of the game versus South Carolina,” Auriemma said in a statement released through the school. “This is contrary to what I do and our standard here in Connecticut. I want to apologize to the staff and team at South Carolina. The way I reacted was unnecessary. The story should be about how well South Carolina played, and I don’t want my actions to detract from that. I have had a great relationship with their staff, and I want to sincerely apologize to them.”
UConn’s waning seconds lost 62-48 At South Carolina, Auriemma approached Staley for a handshake after the game Then his face got angry before Staley began returning fire.
The two separated, but Staley continued yelling toward the UConn bench before walking away. Auriemma walked towards the tunnel alone.
In his postgame news conference, Auriemma said he was disappointed that he waited three minutes for a pregame handshake with Staley and said he had no regrets over comments he made to ESPN’s Holly Rowe during the broadcast, in which he bemoaned the lack of fouls against South Carolina and said Staley “cussed and hollered” at the officials and “called the referees some names.” The ones you don’t want to hear.”
Staley said on Saturday that his focus is on the title match UCLA on Sunday and not what happened the night before.
“Nothing, nothing can stop us, or me, from continuing to work,” Staley said. “There are a lot of distractions in your life. You either address them and let it go away or you keep doing the task at hand.”
She later said she would talk about the incident with Auriemma later.
The UConn coach’s statement apologized to the South Carolina team and staff but did not mention Staley by name. She said Friday night that she didn’t want the situation to overshadow her team’s accomplishments — reaching its fourth championship game in the last five tournaments and six consecutive Final Fours. Despite her wishes, she becomes the biggest story of the weekend.
“Yeah, it’s a little disappointing,” Staley said. “At the same time, this is sports. Sometimes things like this happen. So I’m going to continue to focus on my team and their ability to move forward in this tournament and hopefully win another national championship.”
The senior point guard was named a two-time AP Coach of the Year. raven johnson To calm him down in the heat of the moment. As Staley was being surrounded and restrained by his staff, Johnson slipped up from behind and calmly gave his coach a high-five.
“It’s just classic Raven,” Staley said. “I mean, she makes me laugh even in the toughest situations because she’s so innocent. Like, she’s a really kind young lady. Sometimes you need people around you to keep things in perspective.
“It was really a calming thing for him to do that. To break the ice on what was happening in real time.”
Johnson laughed and said she didn’t really know why he gave the high-five. The goal was just to calm down our coach.
A former point guard, Staley is considered one of the tough guys who plays the position, and the pair have been in the spotlight for four years. Johnson has never missed a Final Four during his career as the two have developed a close relationship.
“Honestly, I saw him screaming,” Johnson said. “Something she doesn’t usually do. I ran up to her right away. Like, I don’t play at all about Coach Staley. We’ve been through a lot together. She fights for each of us outside of basketball.
“When she’s in a situation like this, I will always support her.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
