Women's Fastbreak On SI

Dawn Staley Nearly Left Geno Auriemma's Hug Hanging Before UConn-South Carolina Game

UConn Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma almost got left hanging by South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley before their NCAA Championship game showdown.
Grant Young|
Apr 4, 2025; Tampa, FL, USA; Connecticut Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma reacts during the third quarter in a semifinal of the women's 2025 NCAA tournament against the UCLA Bruins at Amalie Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
Apr 4, 2025; Tampa, FL, USA; Connecticut Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma reacts during the third quarter in a semifinal of the women's 2025 NCAA tournament against the UCLA Bruins at Amalie Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The South Carolina Gamecocks and UConn Huskies women's basketball teams are facing off in the 2025 NCAA national championship.

Nobody can deny that UConn and South Carolina are the country's top two teams at this point. And it's certainly no surprise seeing them both at this point in the season, given the extraordinary success that head coaches Geno Auriemma and Dawn Staley have produced coaching their respective programs.

With 14 (and soon to be 15) NCAA national championships between them (11 for Auriemma and 3 for Staley), these coaches are arguably the two best in the college game right now, and are well familiar with each other.

There's also a clear mutual respect between them. However, social media is laughing about a somewhat awkward moment between these two coaches that took place seconds before this NCAA championship game began.

Auriemma and Staley were meant to meet and exchange an embrace before the game began. Auriemma went to the half-court line a bit before Staley and was standing there with his arms wide, waiting for his opponent. After a few seconds, Auriemma began waving his arms like a penguin trying to flap its wings as Staley still wasn't coming his way.

Ultimately, the Gamecocks' head coach headed over and completed the hug.

SportsCenter posted a video of this interaction on X with the caption, "Geno Auriemma waited to get his hug from Dawn Staley 😅

"Two of the all-time greats 👏".

The post has over 170,000 views in 30 minutes.

We imagine UConn fans will be laughing about this one for a while.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.

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