Rebecca Lobo still has the handwritten letters she received from UConn coaches Geno Auriemma and Chris Dailey 35 years ago when they were recruiting her as one of the top high school players in the country.
Before email and texts and limits on phone calls, it was the only way for coaches to talk to recruits.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 how it used to be done. Before they could call you, they could correspond with you,鈥� said Lobo, now an ESPN analyst but back then first national recruit. 鈥淚n my basement, I have 20 letters that coach wrote me in the late 鈥�80s and early 鈥�90s. After they鈥檇 come watch me play, they鈥檇 write, 鈥橧 enjoyed watching you play. Don鈥檛 get frustrated with the refs. You鈥檒l get fouled a lot.'鈥�
Those letters are the only ones that Lobo saved because of the meaning they have to her. While communication methods have changed, the sentiments and the connection that Auriemma and Dailey have with their players hasn't.
Dozens of former players are expected to be on campus Wednesday night when No. 2 UConn plays Farleigh Dickinson. It will be Auriemma's first chance to set college basketball's career wins record, breaking a tie with
The Hall of Fame coach says he never dreamed that he and Dailey would still be at UConn after four decades together, having built the the greatest program in the history of women's basketball.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think anybody goes into anything thinking that they鈥檙e going to spend 40 years of their life at one place doing the exact same thing,鈥� Auriemma said. 鈥淭he best way I can describe it, you know, it just caught up to me.鈥�
Auriemma said he wouldn鈥檛 accept the head coaching job at UConn unless as his assistant. There wasn't much to work with in Storrs, off the beaten path in eastern 黑料吃瓜网 about 90 miles from Boston.
鈥淢aybe the fact that we started at ground zero, at nothing. We didn鈥檛 have the advantage of location, the advantages of the reputation of the school, we didn鈥檛 have the luxury of a big-time league that could elevate us.," Auriemma said. "We didn鈥檛 have the luxury of facilities. We started at the absolute ground level and it has evolved into this.鈥�
The list of accomplishments is unmatched for Auriemma, who will turn 71 in March. Besides a record 11 national titles, including four in a row from 2013-16, he has coached six undefeated teams. The Huskies won a record 111 consecutive games at one point, breaking its own mark of 90 in a row, and have been to 23 Final Fours 鈥� a record for men or women. Auriemma has been named coach of the year by The Associated Press nine times.
Reaching all those milestones never was on Auriemma's mind when he took the job after being an assistant at Virginia.
鈥淲e were trying to figure out how to beat Providence and Villanova and BC. My focus was on let鈥檚 not finish eighth or ninth in the Big East and let these guys play in their first Big East Tournament ever,鈥� Auriemma said. 鈥淭hat was as far as I could think ahead. All of this other stuff was somebody else鈥檚 idea, it wasn鈥檛 mine."
Auriemma, born it Italy but raised in suburban Philadelphia, has never liked to talk about his resume. This achievement is different though, as Lobo put it.
鈥淚t unites everyone from Peggy Myers' class to this current group. I do think he appreciates that piece of it. Every single one of his players has had a hand in it. Every player has this commonality now,鈥� She said. 鈥淓very player has a certain bond, you play for them. that shared experience.鈥�
Auriemma has had countless top recruits and No. 1 WNBA draft picks, from Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi to Tina Charles and Maya Moore. Then came Breanna Stewart and now Paige Bueckers, who is expected to go No. 1 in the draft next year.
鈥淗e鈥檚 breaking records left and right and it鈥檚 the reason why you came to play under him,鈥� Bueckers said. 鈥淲hat he鈥檚 built here at UConn, the history, the players, the success, the national championships -- it means everything to play for UConn, and to play for him.鈥�
While he may have adapted his style of play over the years, the core values that he and Dailey have instilled in the program have not wavered.
Whether it is walking through the airport without headphones, or learning the name of the bus drivers, or lining up by height for the national anthem, there is a standard that the pair put in place.
鈥淓verything they do is rooted in relationships,鈥� said former UConn guard Jen Rizzotti, 鈥淭hey teach you about being part of a team and caring more about team success and being selfless and being giving and kind to your teammates. They teach you about a work ethic that鈥檚 unmatched in a lot of ways.鈥�
Former players describe them as being perfectionists and 鈥渞elentlessly annoying." They find a way to push the right buttons to get the best out of their players. Lobo remembered a drill she did as a freshman that 25 years later she saw Auriemma running with Stewart.
鈥淗e was needling her the same way he did me all those years ago,鈥� Lobo recalled. 鈥淚t made me better and her better.鈥�
Auriemma is no fan of the current transfer portal/NIL era and has not said how much longer he will coach, only saying in the past he'd step away when he stops getting the type of players he wants. His valued at $18.7 million, runs through 2029.
For now, there is a season underway and his team, should they remain healthy, has a chance to deliver a 12th national championship.
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AP Basketball Writer Aaron Beard and AP freelance writer Jim Fuller contributed to this story.
