Legendary UConn women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma is officially sticking around.
The school announced on Tuesday that it had signed the longtime coach to a five-year contract extension worth $18.7 million. His base salary will be $400,000 per year, with additional compensation for speaking, consulting, and media obligations as well as performance-based incentives, per a UConn press release issued Tuesday.
That additional compensation will start at $2.94 million for the 2024-25 season and increase by $200,000 each year after that.
Auriemma will enter his 40th season at UConn this fall, having led the program to 11 NCAA championships and 15 Final Fours over the last 16 years.
His extension also means that he will likely become the all-time winningest coach in Division I basketball history after Stanford’s Tara VanDerveer announced her retirement in April. She retired with 1,216 total wins, while Auriemma sits just three wins behind her with 1,213 career wins.
“I still find it hard to believe that I’ve been at UConn for over half my life,” Auriemma said. “I feel like there’s so much more that can be done, and will be done, and I’m excited to be the one to do it with my staff and my team. I’m probably as excited about these next few years as I’ve ever been over the last 40.”
The Huskies will enter the upcoming season as known contenders, with Paige Bueckers set to return alongside Azzi Fudd and KK Arnold, amongst others. They’ll also have Sarah Strong, the No. 1 overall recruit for the class of 2024, alongside the No. 2 recruiting class for that year.
“Geno has been such a mainstay at UConn that it’s impossible to overstate his lasting positive influence on our student-athletes, the women’s basketball program, and Connecticut as a whole,” UConn president Radenka Maric said. “His leadership and nearly 40 years of commitment to our university have brought immeasurable value and name recognition to both UConn and the entire state.
“We know he has even more to demonstrate and teach all of us in the years ahead — not only about leading a world-class basketball program, but also about living a life of conviction, compassion, and service. The university is fortunate to have him continuing in this role, and we look forward to the successes ahead under his strong leadership.”
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