UConn extends coach Auriemma on 5-year deal

Geno Auriemma has signed a five-year contract extension to remain as coach of the 11-time national champion UConn Huskies, the school announced Tuesday.

The 2024-25 campaign will be the 40th season at the helm in Storrs for Auriemma, who turned 70 in March.

“I still find it hard to believe that I’ve been at UConn for over half my life,” Auriemma said in a statement. “I feel like there’s so much more that can be done, and will be done, and I’m excited to be the one to do it with my staff and my team. I’m probably as excited about these next few years as I’ve ever been over the last 40.”

The contract extension runs through April 2029 and is valued at $18.7 million, the school said. It includes opportunities for additional compensation via performance-based incentives. Auriemma’s base salary will be $400,000 per year, and he will earn additional compensation for speaking, consulting and media obligations, starting at $2.94 million for the 2024-25 season and increasing by $200,000 each year thereafter.

“Geno has been such a mainstay at UConn that it’s impossible to overstate his lasting positive influence on our student-athletes, the women’s basketball program and Connecticut as a whole,” UConn president Radenka Maric said in a statement. “His leadership and nearly 40 years of commitment to our university have brought immeasurable value and name recognition to both UConn and the entire state.

“We know he has even more to demonstrate and teach all of us in the years ahead — not only about leading a world-class basketball program, but also about living a life of conviction, compassion, and service. The university is fortunate to have him continuing in this role, and we look forward to the successes ahead under his strong leadership.”

The Huskies are eyeing their 12th national title — and first since 2016 — in 2024-25 with the return of former player of the year Paige Bueckers for her redshirt senior season. They’re also bringing in Sarah Strong, the No. 1 overall recruit in the class of 2024 who rounds out the No. 2-ranked recruiting class for that year.

UConn is coming off its 23rd Final Four appearance and 15th in 16 years. The Huskies fell to Iowa in the national semifinals.

Auriemma is set to become Division I college basketball’s winningest coach this season. He currently has 1,213 career wins, three fewer than Stanford‘s Tara VanDerveer, who retired this offseason.