The tale of Diana Taurasi’s legendary basketball career can’t be told without mentioning her time at UConn. The end goal for every collegiate athlete is to be able to play their sport professionally. Taurasi certainly did that, and went on to become a multiple-time Olympic gold medalist and a WNBA champion. But she was so dominant that her time as an amateur cannot be separated from her legacy. Unfortunately, UConn head coach Geno Auriemma believes Taurasi’s run at UConn wouldn’t hold up in today’s landscape.
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Without context, Geno Auriemma’s claim may seem completely outlandish. After all, Diana Taurasi is among the greatest women’s basketball players of all time. The reality is his claim has nothing to do with her skill, but Auriemma’s belief about how the NIL would have affected her drive.
It hasn’t been easy for every coach to adapt to the new standard NIL has initiated within college sports. It has been argued that with the NIL, players don’t have the sport as a priority, but look to money as their main drive. It isn’t a problem that these college athletes are getting paid their worth, but how NIL is being used to lure them into joining college programmes.
“You can use your name, image and likeness to make money. That was the way it was intended to be,” Auriemma said on the Fudd Around and Find Out podcast. “Now it’s, if I give you this much money, will you come to UConn?” he argued.
As much as Auriemma doesn’t like what is becoming of the college game, he doesn’t hold anything against the players. “I’m all for kids getting paid,” Auriemma proclaimed. The only problem is, for some athletes their college recruitment has nothing to do with either the coaching staff or the program. It’s all about who can offer the most money.
If these were the times during UConn’s dynasty during the early 2000s, Auriemma doesn’t believe it would’ve happened.
“I think Diana would’ve played at four schools in four years. I think she would have gone to the highest bidder every year,” Auriemma joked.
Of course, UConn would be in the running to retain Taurasi, but Auriemma isn’t irrational. UConn isn’t the biggest university in the country. Plenty of other instituations have more money available to throw into athletics. It wouldn’t have been a surprise if Taurasi eventually took her talents to UCLA or USC.
Thankfully, that wasn’t the case. Taurasi cemented herself as one of the best basketball players of her generation during her time at UConn. She helped lead the Huskies to three consecutive national championships from 2002 to 2004. However, she wasn’t the only talented player on the roster.
Sue Bird and Swin Cash are two teammates of Taurasi who also went on to have Hall-of-Fame careers. Some other notable players on those rosters were Tamika Williams and Asjha Jones. So, Taurasi may not have been the only one to move on elsewhere for more money from that team.
Auriemma doesn’t have to worry too much about that think piece since it won’t ever happen. The only thing he can do is try to make sure he doesn’t lose any talent from his team going forward.
