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PHOENIX – ESPN analyst Rebecca Lobo said on Sunday’s broadcast of the NCAA national championship game between UCLA and South Carolina that UConn women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma had reached out personally to South Carolina coach Dawn Staley after he initiated a heated exchange between the two following the NCAA national semifinal game between the two teams Friday night.
“Coach Auriemma was certainly wrong in that moment, which he acknowledged in his apology (Saturday),” Lobo said during the broadcast. “And I know he has also since reached out personally to Dawn to apologize. It’s unfortunate that happened. It’s unfortunate that any focus was taken off South Carolina’s performance.”
Sunday, UCLA beat South Carolina 79-51 for the Bruins’ first NCAA title.
Asked after the championship game if Auriemma had reached out, Staley said in the press conference: “That’s a Geno question, right? It really is a Geno question. I haven’t heard from Geno, so … I have not. I got 800 text messages. I don’t know if he texted or not.
“This is UCLA’s day, right? Let’s keep it UCLA, them winning the national championship. Again, I will address all of that at another time, just not this weekend. We’re not going to dampen UCLA’s day with it. We talk about South Carolina, us losing, talk about UCLA winning the national championship, what’s great about our game today.”
On Sunday, when Auriemma was shown in a Final Four montage at the championship game, there was loud booing from the crowd at the Mortgage Matchup Center.
Saturday, Auriemma issued a public apology about his behavior after his angry outburst following UConn’s 62-48 loss to South Carolina triggered an outcry from the women’s basketball world and sports world in general.
“There’s no excuse for how I handled the end of the game vs. South Carolina,” the statement read. “It’s unlike what I do and what our standard is here at Connecticut. I want to apologize to the staff and the team at South Carolina.
“It was uncalled for in how I reacted. The story should be how well South Carolina played, and I don’t want my actions to detract from that. I’ve had a great relationship with their staff, and I sincerely want to apologize to them.”
It was pointed out by many that Auriemma did not name Staley personally in the apology.
The dustup happened Friday with less than a second left in the game. It appeared Auriemma was walking over to Staley to concede but instead, he berated Staley and she shouted back and the two were separated. Auriemma then left the court without going through the handshake line. Neither coach wanted to talk about what happened post-game. Staley suggested that reporters ask Auriemma what happened and Saturday, she said in the pre-championship game press conference, “Yeah, for me, no distractions at this time. Concentrating on winning the national championship. That’s it.”
Auriemma was upset about the disparity in fouls called and complained to ESPN sideline reporter Holly Rowe after the third quarter that he was mad that Sarah Strong’s shirt was ripped and that South Carolina, he said, had “been beating the (expletive) out of our guys the entire game. I’m not making excuses because we haven’t been able to make a shot. But this is ridiculous. Their coach rants and raves on the sidelines, calls the referees some names you don’t want to hear and it’s 6-0 and I got a kid with a ripped jersey and they go, ‘I didn’t see it.’ Come on, man, this is for the national championship.” Strong, who had to change her jersey mid-game, said it was “an accident” in the post-game press conference and video replays showed her ripping her own shirt in frustration after missing a shot.
Auriemma was also mad that Staley did not participate in the traditional Final Four handshake before the game after the coaches were announced, though Staley had shaken his hand earlier.
Former UConn stars Diana Taurasi and Sue Bird weighed in on the controversy Saturday. Taurasi played with Staley on the 2004 Olympic team and for her as an assistant and head coach, on subsequent Olympic teams, as did Bird.
“I think what Coach Auriemma did (Friday) night obviously was wrong,” Bird said during a live podcast in Phoenix Saturday. “Disappointing. Even he said, in the apology, that there’s no excuse for how he handled it. I think that apology was something that most of us left (Friday) night wishing we had heard because it would have been taking responsibility. We’re so used to him speaking his mind in those moments, especially like a press conference, that it did feel for all of us who know him, out of character on some levels. But I’m glad he came out with a statement and an apology.”
Taurasi, during an interview with SiriusXM, said the two coaches are “two really competitive people from Philly.
“So you can put whatever label you want and you can say whatever you want about the situation last night, but to me it was two people competing at the highest level that have tremendous respect for each other.”
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“Coach Auriemma was certainly wrong in that moment, which he acknowledged in his apology (Saturday),” Lobo said during the broadcast. “And I know he has also since reached out personally to Dawn to apologize. It’s unfortunate that happened. It’s unfortunate that any focus was taken off South Carolina’s performance.”
Sunday, UCLA beat South Carolina 79-51 for the Bruins’ first NCAA title.
Asked after the championship game if Auriemma had reached out, Staley said in the press conference: “That’s a Geno question, right? It really is a Geno question. I haven’t heard from Geno, so … I have not. I got 800 text messages. I don’t know if he texted or not.
“This is UCLA’s day, right? Let’s keep it UCLA, them winning the national championship. Again, I will address all of that at another time, just not this weekend. We’re not going to dampen UCLA’s day with it. We talk about South Carolina, us losing, talk about UCLA winning the national championship, what’s great about our game today.”
On Sunday, when Auriemma was shown in a Final Four montage at the championship game, there was loud booing from the crowd at the Mortgage Matchup Center.
Saturday, Auriemma issued a public apology about his behavior after his angry outburst following UConn’s 62-48 loss to South Carolina triggered an outcry from the women’s basketball world and sports world in general.
“There’s no excuse for how I handled the end of the game vs. South Carolina,” the statement read. “It’s unlike what I do and what our standard is here at Connecticut. I want to apologize to the staff and the team at South Carolina.
“It was uncalled for in how I reacted. The story should be how well South Carolina played, and I don’t want my actions to detract from that. I’ve had a great relationship with their staff, and I sincerely want to apologize to them.”
It was pointed out by many that Auriemma did not name Staley personally in the apology.
The dustup happened Friday with less than a second left in the game. It appeared Auriemma was walking over to Staley to concede but instead, he berated Staley and she shouted back and the two were separated. Auriemma then left the court without going through the handshake line. Neither coach wanted to talk about what happened post-game. Staley suggested that reporters ask Auriemma what happened and Saturday, she said in the pre-championship game press conference, “Yeah, for me, no distractions at this time. Concentrating on winning the national championship. That’s it.”
Auriemma was upset about the disparity in fouls called and complained to ESPN sideline reporter Holly Rowe after the third quarter that he was mad that Sarah Strong’s shirt was ripped and that South Carolina, he said, had “been beating the (expletive) out of our guys the entire game. I’m not making excuses because we haven’t been able to make a shot. But this is ridiculous. Their coach rants and raves on the sidelines, calls the referees some names you don’t want to hear and it’s 6-0 and I got a kid with a ripped jersey and they go, ‘I didn’t see it.’ Come on, man, this is for the national championship.” Strong, who had to change her jersey mid-game, said it was “an accident” in the post-game press conference and video replays showed her ripping her own shirt in frustration after missing a shot.
Auriemma was also mad that Staley did not participate in the traditional Final Four handshake before the game after the coaches were announced, though Staley had shaken his hand earlier.
Former UConn stars Diana Taurasi and Sue Bird weighed in on the controversy Saturday. Taurasi played with Staley on the 2004 Olympic team and for her as an assistant and head coach, on subsequent Olympic teams, as did Bird.
“I think what Coach Auriemma did (Friday) night obviously was wrong,” Bird said during a live podcast in Phoenix Saturday. “Disappointing. Even he said, in the apology, that there’s no excuse for how he handled it. I think that apology was something that most of us left (Friday) night wishing we had heard because it would have been taking responsibility. We’re so used to him speaking his mind in those moments, especially like a press conference, that it did feel for all of us who know him, out of character on some levels. But I’m glad he came out with a statement and an apology.”
Taurasi, during an interview with SiriusXM, said the two coaches are “two really competitive people from Philly.
“So you can put whatever label you want and you can say whatever you want about the situation last night, but to me it was two people competing at the highest level that have tremendous respect for each other.”
Continue reading...
