Former Husky Ray Allen in Awe of Geno Auriemma’s Work With UConn Women

UConn women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma made news this week in more ways than one. Not only did he lead his Huskies to their 89th consecutive win, an all-time record, but he also turned some heads by complaining about the way women's sports are treated in today's media.

It didn't take long for a couple of Boston Celtics to defend him.

"Geno's right," C's coach Doc Rivers said. "They're not getting attention because it's a women's team, and that's not fair. I don't care what sport you're in — when you win that many in a row, it's extraordinary. Penn State's women's volleyball team just did the same thing, and they only got mentioned late, when they'd already broken the record. They've won four national titles in a row, and people should know about that. If it was the UConn men's program, we would be talking about it every day."

Celtics guard Ray Allen, who himself played for the UConn men's team from 1993-96, still has a strong connection to the school and was quick to voice his support for the women's program in the wake of its record-breaking win over Florida State.

"It's an incredible feat," Allen said. "Those girls definitely need to be commended. I know how hard they work, and nobody should take that away from them just because they're not playing in the men's game."

Allen played at UConn for three seasons under men's coach Jim Calhoun, who's been at the helm of the Huskies since 1986. Calhoun is an institution at the university, but Auriemma even more so — the decorated women's coach arrived in 1985, and he's earned countless honors since. The Husky women have amassed 15 Big East titles and seven national championships, and Auriemma now has a plaque in Springfield.

"He always takes the best talent, makes them work hard, and makes them realize that they need to work even harder," Allen said of Auriemma. "You take Maya Moore, you take Tina Charles, Renee Montgomery, Diana Taurasi, Sue Bird, Rebecca Lobo, all these players, they were great coming out of high school. But when they got to UConn, he made them believe that in order for them to amount to anything, they had to work harder than anyone else. He stayed on them.

"What he's doing is extraordinary. It's amazing, and when you look at it, you don't see an end in sight. That's what makes it even more amazing."