Geno Auriemma isn't just the most decorated women's basketball coach ever ... his former UConn player, Jennifer Rizzotti, tells TMZ Sports he might just be the best of any sport!!
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00:00How was it being coached by the younger version of Gino?
00:07Well, besides weighing a lot less than he does now and moving around a little bit faster probably, he was also a lot feistier, you know.
00:18I think we joke a lot about how he's gotten soft in his old age.
00:22He was a little more fiery and probably a lot less patient back in the 90s than he is now.
00:28But I think that probably has a lot less to do with old age than it does with just being a different generation of kids.
00:34I agree with that.
00:36And I know you were there when he made history with being the most winningest coach in college basketball of all time.
00:43Now, with that being said, do you think he's the greatest coach of all time?
00:48Yes, I do.
00:49And that's an easy one for me.
00:51And I think it's obviously the record speaks for itself in terms of how many wins he has, having the most national championships ever of any coach.
01:02But I think more importantly for me, it's about impact.
01:05And I think about how many women he has impacted in his career and each one of us that have gone on to impact so many more.
01:14And I think when you measure your success over your career, it becomes a lot less about the records and the wins.
01:20And he'll tell you it becomes a lot more about the lives that you've impacted.
01:24And so when you look at who showed up last Wednesday to celebrate with him and CD and the program, it's just a testament to the legacy that he's created and the family that he's created.
01:36And I think that's what makes him, in my mind, the best to ever do it.
01:41And you mean in sports in general, or are you just talking about specifically basketball?
01:46I mean, I think, you know, arguably he crosses probably every sport.
01:53You know, I'm sure there's a lot of other candidates out there that you could call the greatest of all time, but it'd be hard pressed to find, to have him not at least be in the top five in every sport.
02:06The sustained level of success is so hard in sports at any level.
02:12And he has done it for four decades.
02:14He has been a championship level coach, and I'm not sure that there's anyone out there that's quite been that good for that long.
02:22And with that being said, you know how great he's been and continues to do so.
02:27Are you surprised that he never transitioned into the pros like the WNBA or NBA?
02:35I don't know that I'm surprised by it, to be honest with you.
02:38I probably would have been more surprised if he did.
02:41I think he truly understood how special what he created was or is at UConn.
02:50That he has been able to continue to get players that have wanted to be pushed to be their best and have thrived under the pressure and the expectation to win championships every year that you're there.
03:05And when he, I think every couple of years, gets that special player or special group of players, it's harder and harder to leave.
03:14He's built a family, not just with players, but just in the community.
03:19The people that he's grown up with in his adult life and where he's lived and vacationed and the people that he's created the best bonds with are all people from Connecticut.
03:32And so I think as the years went by, I would have been more and more surprised if he actually left because what he has done is so special.
03:40And I guess we're all lucky enough that he has realized that and stayed put.
03:45And do you think if he did actually go into the WNBA or NBA, would he succeed?
03:51Maybe not as great like he is in UConn, but do you think he would have been successful?
03:56I do. I do. And because I think so much of coaching and sports is about relationships and motivation, and I think that's what he does best.
04:04I mean, don't think I didn't ask him to come be the coach of the Connecticut Sun when I saw him last week.
04:09Of course, I threw that out there. I had to, right?
04:12But, you know, I think obviously there's different reasons that winning at different levels or different sports is hard.
04:21I think in the WNBA, having only 12 teams and having every team be so loaded makes it really competitive.
04:28But I think if he had decided a decade ago to be a coach in the WNBA, he would have found a way to be successful.
04:36But I think that there's something to be said for what he's created there and being able to do it his way for so long.
04:43He found the right way and he was able to continue to do it that way.
04:47But I think he would have been successful if he had decided to go into men's basketball or into the WNBA. Yeah.