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NATIONAL COLLEGIATE ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION MEDIA CONFERENCE

April 1, 2009

Geno Auriemma

RICK NIXON: As we're assembling I'll ask Coach Auriemma to say a few opening remarks as well.
COACH AURIEMMA: Thanks, guys. First of all, I want to just say how unbelievably pleased I am and how our players responded.
It was a weekend where we got to see an awful lot of who we are and what we can do when we're tested a little bit and how players can step up when they're asked to. And in the end it came down to, you know, our big three making incredible plays against two very, very good teams.
I feel like our team's incredibly prepared to go out to St. Louis based on who we've played, not just in the regular season, but also during the tournament. And I know it's a short turnaround, but we're anxious to practice tomorrow and get out there and get settled in and get ready for Sunday.
RICK NIXON: Questions for Coach.

Q. It seems like forever that a player of the level of Renee Montgomery, as a senior at UConn, has not won a national championship. How much added pressure does that put on the team and on Renee?
COACH AURIEMMA: I don't think there's any more or any less than there would naturally be. Now, sometimes things just, for whatever reason, don't go according to the way you would want them to go.
I think we've had opportunities every year that Renee Montgomery's been here, from her freshman year up to now. She's certainly been a big reason why we've been in position to go to the Final Four all four years. We've come up short of the national championship up to this point. But there's just so many factors that go into that. And Renee is just one of them.
But she's not putting the pressure on anybody else on the team and certainly no one else on the team feels any pressure for Renee. This is strictly a team thing that we want to do this for ourselves, not so much for one particular individual.

Q. What is your biggest source of concern for your matchup against Stanford and what is your biggest source of confidence?
COACH AURIEMMA: Well, I think it's been the same for me all year long. I think in order to play against a team like Stanford, you have to have quality depth. You've got to have as many players as they do.
They have a lot of good players. I think they're one of the more well-balanced, well-rounded teams that I've seen in a long, long time.
I know that they're somewhat like us in the sense that they're missing a really, really key player. When JJ Hones went down, I think that was a big loss for them, as it was when Caroline Doty went down for us. Yet, they've had people step up and they really spread the ball around and they're such a good passing team. It's really unusual that you have a center with over 100 assists. It's just a testament to how well they move the ball and how well they play together.
So the concern is when you play a team like that, that there really isn't one thing that you can focus on and say wow, if we do a great job stopping so and so or this, then that's the key to the game.
I don't think there is a key to the game when you're playing Stanford. As far as what gives me confidence, we've played pretty consistently all year long. And we've played every style of play there is to play. And we've managed to figure it out and we've managed to win.
So I'm confident that when the time comes and it's time for us to figure it out, we'll figure it out.

Q. Just wondering, how have you handled and how has the team handled the constant kind of barrage of talk about how unbeatable the team is? Do you address that much with them?
COACH AURIEMMA: Actually, I don't. I've only addressed it -- I told the people around here I addressed it one time this season when we played Oklahoma and we won really big. The ESPN people were putting up graphics of our 2002 team and this team and who was better and matching up every position and that really bothered me.
Because usually I don't like my teams until after they all graduate. So I wasn't ready to put this team up with that 2002 team. So I let them know that, hey, you guys aren't nowhere near like that team. That team would beat you guys by 30. So stop thinking you're as good as them and you're great and you're unbeatable.
And they all looked at me and said, What are you talking about? And I said, You know what I'm talking about. They're like, No. They don't know anything about that. They have not really been affected by all that. I think more so now, but throughout the whole season it really hasn't been an issue. Now, because everybody's asking them about it, and because we're undefeated, it's a natural question to ask, but they know that our margin of error is very slim.
They know we've got to do everything correctly. So I think that keeps us grounded. It keeps us humble. And we're just focused on the next game as opposed to what our record is and what our ranking is.

Q. Do you think that the last couple of games have shown that opponents are maybe kind of figuring some things out in terms of keeping things close against you, that time has helped the opponent?
COACH AURIEMMA: You know, the younger me would have said yes, they kept it really close, they kept it at 20 instead of 40. But I'm not that young anymore. So I don't make statements like that.
I just know that when you get into the NCAA tournament you expect only good teams to be left. And you expect teams to be really good at what they do. And you're not going to go out there and in a 10-minute stretch blow anybody out. It's a 40-minute game. And you're going to have to grind it out for 40 minutes.
And, as I said, there isn't anything we haven't seen. There isn't anything we haven't faced in our league. So it's the NCAA tournament. And if we were to go out and be up 25 in the first half in the NCAA tournament, then I would have a lot less respect for the tournament and the women's game in general. The games are being played exactly the way they're supposed to be played.

Q. I'm talking with some of the participants about plans beyond just the basketball game. You're really well known for being a fan of Italian food. Did you have a trip planned to --
COACH AURIEMMA: We have a bad connection.

Q. I know you have a plan, I know you're a fan of Italian food. Wondering if you're planning a trip to the hill in St. Louis while you're there?
COACH AURIEMMA: Absolutely. In addition to the scouting report on what players like to do and what teams' tendencies are and all that, the very next thing on our list is where is the best Italian restaurant in every town we go to.
And I've already gotten some suggestions from some friends of mine. As a matter of fact, I was just on the phone with Mike Fratello this morning and he told me that Geno's is the best place up on the hill. And Fratello used to be a skinnier before he got into TV, so looking at him now, he looks like he knows where the best restaurants are, so I've got to go check it out.

Q. You mentioned that you usually don't like teams until they graduate. Usually you don't retire a player's jersey until they've left. Could you just state some of your thinking and breaking precedent on Renee this year?
COACH AURIEMMA: Yeah, everybody has their own criteria for why they would honor someone, either by retiring their jersey, which gets hard to do when you've got 10, 11, 12 jerseys, that you don't want to use their numbers anymore. Or you put them in some Hall of Fame. Everybody has their own criteria.
Our criteria is if you make first team All-American, then you're part of a special group of individuals that have played here at Connecticut.
We didn't have an All-American while we had the mechanism to do that. It wasn't until a couple years ago that we established this kind of Hall of Fame where we put people up on the wall, in the building, in the arena where we play.
So Renee became the first All-American and senior, first senior All-American. So I took the opportunity to do something for her before she graduates, when it's most special, when all her teammates are there, the people she played with, the fans that cheered for her.
And being an All-American I think means more than just how many points you score and how many rebounds or how many assists you got. It's the way you conduct yourself. It's what you do on a daily basis. And I wanted everyone to know who was here that we've had some great, great players, some of the best that have ever played this game. And I don't think that there's anyone that's given more of themselves to this school, to this program, to our coaching staff than Renee has. And I wanted her to do that.
And Maya will be next, at some point during her senior year, we'll do the same thing for her. If anybody makes All-American along the way, we'll do the same for them. So it's something that I've always wanted to do and now I'm happy we have the mechanism and we're fortunate that we've got people that we can put up there.

Q. Was she that way from the time she stepped on campus, or has that been a growth process?
COACH AURIEMMA: A little bit of both. From the time she stepped on campus you could tell she was going to be our starting point guard. That was never a question. Her first practice, her first drill, you know -- Renee's eyes tell everything. And she has the big eyes and she has the look on her face, the attitude, the personality, the leadership qualities.
That's been evident from day one. She's had a lot of upperclassmen ahead of her obviously where it hasn't been the easiest thing in the world to exert yourself when you've had a couple of guys that won national championships that were ahead of you.
So it's just been this year where she's really come all the way to the point where she says what's on her mind. She speaks -- she says what needs to be said. She's got players around her that can't wait to rally around her.
You know, she's taken what she's always had and just added to it and made it that much greater.

Q. I'm sure at this moment, Coach, you really want to hear about Jim Calhoun and the men. It's a pretty big story. I'm just kind of wondering, how does a controversy like that surrounding not you guys but the men's team, how does that impact you and your team?
COACH AURIEMMA: It hasn't impacted our team because they know it's an issue that involves -- right now they've certainly heard about it on TV and they've certainly read about it whenever they've read anything, online or not online. Our men's basketball program, they're not naive enough to not know what's going on in the world.
So I know they're aware of it. I haven't discussed it with them. Not one word. I know that it affects, obviously, the people that work here and the University of Connecticut and all that, because it's a topic that from the first day that it came out to now hasn't gone away. And we probably know that it won't until it's over.
So our focus, with our players, is who is playing next, who we have to prepare for. And we've kind of kept it at that and not anything else. That's it.

Q. Following up on that, there's been some conversation over the years about your relationship with Coach Calhoun. How is it for two great national programs to co-exist in the same sport on the same campus?
COACH AURIEMMA: How is it?

Q. Yes, how does -- I know it's a very general question, but how does that work? Because you're both so great, so well known nationally, such success, of course, on the same campus.
COACH AURIEMMA: It is kind of unusual in that respect. You know, you don't see that very often. I think you see it in some other schools maybe on the, let's say, football/men's basketball side, where you may have -- like Florida first comes to mind where you've got a national championship football and a national championship men's basketball program.
So it does happen at other schools. So it's not unusual. It is unusual here at Connecticut because it's basketball and it's men's and women's basketball. And it draws so much attention during basketball season, and certainly NCAA tournament time. And it's been great in the sense that our university has benefited so much from it.
So many things have happened on this campus since 1995 when we won our first national championship that would never have happened had the two basketball programs not been as dominant as we've been for such a long period of time.
And I think in anything, when you've got all that on a college campus, the excitement, the attention, the things that are said, the things that are written, the stuff you see on TV, all that gets magnified. And for the last 15 years we've managed to work it out and here we are, both two games away from winning another national championship.

Q. Real quick question about I think a longtime friend of yours, Sherri Coale. You kind of have known her in a lot of different stages: First as a coach, you were recruiting a player of hers, and then as a competitor, and now again as a coach that's in the same Final Four as you. Can you talk a little bit about her development as a coach over those years?
COACH AURIEMMA: Yeah, sure. My first recollection obviously was when we were recruiting Stacy Hansmeyer, and one of the things I was most impressed with in recruiting Stacy was how well drilled she was fundamentally.
And watching them practice, I thought Sherri ran a college-type program. I come from a high school background, where I coached in high school and I had great coaches that I played for and worked with at the high school level. So I know what can be done if you put the time and effort into it and you get the right people.
So when I saw that, I thought, wow, I haven't seen much of this during my coaching career at Connecticut. And when she got to college, she got the Oklahoma job, I think all she had to do was be herself and do the same thing she was doing in high school.
So I'm not surprised that she is where she is. I'm not surprised at the success she's had, or the attention that comes to Oklahoma, which, contrary to Bubba, was there long before his daughters got there. And she's managed to not be a one-hit wonder.
Taking that team to the Final Four in 2002 and keeping them in contention, at least in the limelight all these years, that's a sign of a program. That's the sign that you're not just a good team once in a while; that you've got the foundation to put yourself in position year after year after year.
And she's done that. And she will continue do that for as long as she's at Oklahoma.

Q. Just to follow up a little bit on that. Aside from her on-court success that she's had with the program, she's also become one of those faces of the game, which in college athletics so often coaches do become the faces because they stay. But is that personality? Is that her? You sort of talk about her being her. Kind of talk a little bit about that and how she's evolved as one of those faces that's out there in the women's game.
COACH AURIEMMA: You said it right. College, right or wrong, fairly or unfairly, has become kind of a coach's game, where the NBA is a player's game, because coaches are the one constant in the college game.
They become the focus of attention, right or wrong. Positive and negative comes out of that. And Sherri has become one of the faces in college basketball on the women's side. And from her success, from her getting involved in USA Basketball, to being president of WBCA and all the things she does for the game. And she's just a multi-talented individual.
To put together a team like that and scout and recruit and spend all that time on your hair, that's not easy (laughter). It takes a lot of time and effort for her. I'm sure people don't understand how hard she has to work at that.

Q. I was wondering if you could be a little more specific when you say that Sherri had a college-type program. What was it maybe specifically that stood out to you when you were in her gym that day?
COACH AURIEMMA: The organization. You know, sometimes you go to a high school practice and it's like recess. And I was struck by how organized, how thorough and every little detail was worked on. Time was used up to the second.
And there was no wasted minute the whole time I was there. And I just thought it was a breath of fresh air, that if more girls had a chance to play for high school coaches like that, the game would be a lot better. And I think there's been a lot of that since then, that's why the players have gotten better.
But in 1994, '95, whenever that was, I didn't get a chance to see much of that. I'm sure it was out there. But I was really struck by the planning that went into practice and how thorough it was.
And I've always been impressed by her organizational skills and how precise everything she does fits into what she's doing.

Q. Do you remember telling her that she could succeed at the next level and that's something that has stuck with her, I guess, all these years?
COACH AURIEMMA: Well, I don't know if I said that or if she says I said it, I guess I did. I told her that -- you know, sometimes you tell high school coaches what you want them to hear because you're trying to get their high school players. But I think in Sherri's case, I told her the truth. I told her what I thought.
When she called me to tell me that she was applying for the Oklahoma job and she wanted me to recommend her, I had no problem doing that. And that's not an easy thing to do, to get a high school coach involved with a college program. And that was a big step for Oklahoma to do that.
But I was confident that it was going to happen. I was convinced, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that it was going to happen.

Q. I want to ask you about two things: Number one, you play in the Big East with Louisville, and you guys beat them pretty handily in the Big East tournament final. I want to get your thoughts on basically them getting this far, especially beating a team that you play against quite frequently and that you just beat by 39 points, did you expect to see them in the -- well, you're not going to play them, but to see them get to this point?
COACH AURIEMMA: I'm not surprised. Just like I wasn't surprised that Rutgers did what they did and what a tough out they were. Or Pittsburgh do what they did.
You know, this is a tough league. The best league, with some of the best players in America. And none better than Angel McCoughtry, and Candyce Bingham is as good as anybody we've played.
Forget the scores when we played them. I mean, we know them. They know us. We did some things. They didn't shoot the ball well, whatever you want to say. And we played great. But when you play them for the first time and you don't know and you don't understand just how good Angel McCoughtry is, they are just a really, really difficult team to prepare for.
And I am not surprised one bit that they're playing in the Final Four. I think Jeff has done an unbelievable job putting those kids in that position, and, as I said, I think Angel McCoughtry and Candyce Bingham are as good of a 1-2 combination as there is in the country.
And playing in our league, I'll tell you what, you don't get any days off in our league, that's for sure.

Q. One other thing on Angel. She was pretty raw, or at least Brenda Frese, when she was recruiting her, said she was pretty raw and I guess she got passed over from Maryland, and she commented about how she's really turned herself into an All-American. Since you saw her at the beginning of her career, can you tell me what's different about her skill-wise?
COACH AURIEMMA: Yeah, yeah. The first time we played against Angel, she was a non-factor. And it was just a kid you saw running up and down the floor. Then, all of a sudden, the following year you go, Wait a minute, this kid is leading the league in scoring and rebounding and steals.
And it's almost like she was doing it strictly on pure athletic ability, pure instincts. And with each game and each year that's passed, her game has become more refined. She's added more things.
But her personality has changed. I think she was a very difficult player to like when she was younger. And watching her now, she was really impressive, I thought, in the Big East tournament this year. Two years ago she came to the tournament and not a real likable individual, and our fans let her know about it.
And when I saw this year was a completely different person who understands the concept of, you know, my team and how I have to lead them and how I have to be an emotional spark plug as well as a physical one. And I love the kid. I can't say enough good things about her.
RICK NIXON: Thank you, Coach.

End of FastScripts

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