Geno Auriemma Reveals Why He Once Refused Invite From UConn's NCAA Tournament Foe
The No. 2 seed UConn Huskies women's basketball team faces off against the No. 10 seed South Dakota State Jackrabbits on March 24, with the winner earning a trip to the Sweet Sixteen of the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
While South Dakota State doesn't have anywhere near the name recognition that UConn's program has, anybody who's a true women's college basketball fan knows that Geno Auriemma's test isn't just going to show up and roll through the Jackrabbits on Monday.
Despite only beginning play in NCAA's Division 1 in 2004, South Dakota State has appeared in thirteen NCAA Division I Tournaments, won 12 Summit League conference tournament championships, and made it to the NCAA Tournament's Sweet Sixteen in 2019.
This has all caught Auriemma's attention. And he opened up about this when speaking with the media on Sunday.
"I think anybody that has followed our sport certainly knows about their success. And for me, it was as them getting better and beating teams that common sense would tell you 'Well, they're the underdog', but they would always win," Auriemma said of South Dakota State, per an X post from Tanner Castora.
"And then it really hit home when they invited us to come in their tournament, and I said 'No way in hell am I coming up there,'" he added. "So I think everybody in women's basketball, and me personally, I have so much respect for them in how they do it and the consistency in how they do it. I don't care who you are, to do what they've done, it has just been really impressive to watch."
Auriemma was then asked why he declined the invite to play in South Dakota State's tournament, and he said, "'Oh yeah, we've got a great place to play, we'll give you a lot of money,'" before shaking his head.
When asked if he would now have any interest in playing there, he smiled and said, "No! Never say never... When they have five freshmen in the starting lineup and I know that's what's happening, I'll be happy to go up there."
UConn's Geno Auriemma on when he became aware of @GoJacksWBB program success
— Tanner Castora (@Tanner_Castora) March 23, 2025
Plus... why Geno said no thanks to the Jacks invite to play in Brookings:
"When they have five freshmen in the starting lineup and I know that's what's happening, I'll be happy to go up there." pic.twitter.com/25SzRBiDns
You can always count on Auriemma to give a candid response when speaking on the podium.
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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.