Has Geno Auriemma Surpassed John Wooden as the Greatest College Basketball Coach of All Time?

 It took University of Connecticut women’s basketball head coach, Geno Auriemma, four seasons to win his first conference championship. It only took him six seasons to make his first Final Four appearance, and just ten years to win his first NCAA Championship.

Since then, Auriemma has lost in a NCAA tournament before the Sweet Sixteen and has finally caught up to coaching legend, John Wooden, with ten NCAA Championships. Yes, Auriemma hasn’t won seven straight championships, but he has won a total of ten and owns almost every coaching record, including three NCAA records for both men’s and women’s basketball. It seems like it’s finally time to debate whether or not Auriemma has surpassed John Wooden as the greatest college basketball coach of all time.

"I don't compare our team to any other teams. I just know that in our sport, from 1995 to today, what we've done against our peers is as good, if not better, than what anybody else has done in their sport."  

-Geno Auriemma 

Now with ten championships, Geno Auriemma still doesn’t seem to be among the very best coaches in NCAA history and no one has said it, but it may be because he coaches a women’s team. Well, let's put that to rest. Who cares if Auriemma coaches women’s basketball? He still has some of the biggest achievements in the history of the NCAA. Becoming the fastest coach to win 800 and 900 games as either a men’s or women’s coach seems like a big deal considering he broke it for both leagues.

For Auriemma, coaching a women’s team has never been simple. He’s never coached the first women’s basketball player to dunk or the tallest women to ever play. He coached fundamental teams that knew how to play solid basketball. So again, who cares if Auriemma coached women’s basketball?

Compared to John Wooden’s seven consecutive championships, Auriemma’s ten doesn’t seem that impressive; however, it does seem impressive compared to Pat Summitt’s eight championships and Coach K’s five, are both second behind Auriemma and Wooden in championship wins. Auriemma also holds the record for most consecutive wins (90) and is considered the winningest coach in women’s basketball.

Auriemma’s .872 winning percentage is the greatest of any college basketball coach, men’s or women’s. Auriemma also won his first NCAA Championship at age 41, 13 years younger than when John Wooden won his first. The stats are there, no coach has accomplished all the milestones that Auriemma has. He took UConn to back-to-back undefeated seasons, and has finished undefeated five times throughout his career.There isn’t a better resume than Auriemma’s. Even with seven consecutive championships with UCLA, John Wooden hasn’t had the accomplishments that Auriemma has.

 The argument that Wooden built UCLA into the national powerhouse they are today is one to be looked upon during the debate between the two coaches. However, UConn’s overall record before Auriemma arrived was 26-56 and they never had a double-digit win season. Now, they're known as one of the greatest teams in all of college sports. As much as John Wooden did for UCLA, Auriemma has done the same, if not more, for UConn.

It’s time to finally recognize what Geno Auriemma has done for the University of Connecticut. He took a new team with nothing and turned them into one of the best college basketball franchises of all time. The accomplishments that Auriemma has achieved in his 30 years as a head coach can’t be described as anything less than historic. If Geno Auriemma decides to continue coaching, which it looks like he will, then college basketball’s “greatest coach” may not need to be debated much longer.