\u201cFudd Around and Find Out\u201d <\/a>podcast with Azzi Fudd, the Hall of Fame coach explained how modern college basketball would have changed everything.<\/p>\nFudd asked Auriemma, \u201cWhat would you say, out of the teams you\u2019ve had, the dynasties you\u2019ve had, which era would not survive the NIL era that we have now?\u201d<\/p>\n
Auriemma replied, \u201cI think Diana would have probably played at four schools in four years. I think she would have gone to the highest bidder every year.\u201d<\/p>\n
During her four-year stay at UConn from 2000 to 2004, Taurasi won three straight national titles, compiled a 139-8 record, and became the first Husky to record 2,000 points, 600 assists, and 600 rebounds.<\/p>\n
But Auriemma wasn\u2019t only pointing to Taurasi. He cited the entire core of those championship runs \u2014 Sue Bird, Svetlana Abrosimova, Shea Ralph, Tamika Williams, Asia Jones, and Swin Cash.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you think about D, Sue, Sveta, Shea, Tamika, Asia, Swin, you know, you\u2019ve got four Olympians on the team,\u201d Auriemma explained. \u201cLike, I don\u2019t know the last time I coached four Olympians on the same team. Actually, five, cause Svetlana was on the Russian Olympic team twice.\u201d<\/p>\n
Auriemma admitted UConn couldn\u2019t compete financially for players of that caliber in the NIL market.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe would not have been able to afford that,\u201d he said. \u201cIf they were looking for the kind of money that they deserved, there\u2019s no way that we would have been able to do that. No way.\u201d<\/p>\n
To illustrate, Auriemma compared the NIL market to overpriced coffee. \u201cSome of the money that kids are being paid today, it\u2019s like paying a hundred dollars for a cup of coffee. It\u2019s really not worth a hundred dollars, but these guys are, you know, so yeah, that group of players\u2026 expensive, very expensive.\u201d<\/p>\n
The talent on those rosters was undeniable. Taurasi won back-to-back Naismith Player of the Year awards in 2003 and 2004. Bird became a WNBA legend and a five-time Olympic gold medalist. Several others went on to earn WNBA All-Star nods and represent their countries in the Olympics.<\/p>\n
The dominance showed in the numbers: UConn\u2019s three consecutive titles from 2002 to 2004 came with a combined 107-5 record, highlighted by a perfect 39-0 season in 2002.<\/p>\n
However, Auriemma said replicating that today would be nearly impossible. With NIL deals and the transfer portal, players now have the freedom to earn immediately and switch schools for better opportunities.<\/p>\n
Auriemma\u2019s comments suggest dynasties like that UConn run can\u2019t exist under today\u2019s system, since those teams relied on stars staying four years at one program \u2014 something today\u2019s incentives simply don\u2019t reward.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The college basketball scene has shifted dramatically in recent years, with the arrival of name, image, and likeness…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":259919,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[1339,104,136302,728,1317,1337,1338,10814,86770,136303,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-259918","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-basketball","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-breaking-news","10":"tag-diana-taurasis-4-year-uconn-run-wouldnt-be-possible-in-modern-era","11":"tag-local-news","12":"tag-ncaa","13":"tag-ncaa-basketball","14":"tag-ncaabasketball","15":"tag-newsbreak","16":"tag-pfsn","17":"tag-says-geno-auriemma","18":"tag-sports","19":"tag-united-states","20":"tag-unitedstates","21":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115278887766384671","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259918","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=259918"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259918\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/259919"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=259918"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=259918"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=259918"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}