Athletic article on Geno

In 1983, when Kathy Auriemma was pregnant with the couple’s first child, Geno’s biggest concern was that the OB-GYN was a Duke guy. For months, the Blue Devil assured them the baby was a boy. Geno and Kathy didn’t care either way, but this guy was confident. And then Jenna arrived. The doctors took their baby girl and ran the standard tests, which didn’t worry him at all at the time. It was what they did with every baby.

Jenna was healthy. Kathy was healthy. And Geno was fine.

A month later, UConn had to postpone a game against DePaul because it didn’t meet the threshold for the minimum number of players available. That same month, the team’s Husky mascot, Jonathan XIV, had to retire because he required spleen surgery.



“The dog,” Auriemma says. “Even the dog.”