UConn head coach Geno Auriemma blasted the NCAA for its handling of the logistics of the NCAA Tournament.
In his three-minute diatribe, Auriemma blamed the NCAA for the tournament’s recent poor shooting, arguing that the new rims and basketballs at the regional sites are not conducive to player success. He was also furious with the scheduling for shootarounds and media availability, which is an issue since the women’s tournament only uses two regional sites.
“Know what time our shootaround was yesterday? 6:00 in the morning,” Auriemma told reporters. “I just saw Notre Dame leaving, so they had media this morning. Their practice time is tonight at 5:30. What did you have to ask them this morning that you didn’t ask them last night? Or us? You know what time our practice time is? 6:30 tonight. So we had to get our kids up, come over here. You already knew who we were playing last night. But we can’t get on the court, and neither can the other teams.
“Does anybody who makes these decisions ever ask the coaches and the players, ‘hey, does this work? Do you guys do this during the regular season? Is this normal?’ … I just don’t understand some of the decisions that are made about our game when we’re trying to grow the g–damn game.”
Geno just went all the way off ..!!!!! pic.twitter.com/zqh8TOvgeC
— linds (@finestlinds) March 28, 2026
The women’s tournament only has two regional sites instead of the four used by the men’s tournament. That means eight teams have to share practice space and media availability at each location, making for some wild scheduling. Auriemma is also clearly of the opinion that the scheduling and the environment is not beneficial to players, and that the sport is not putting its best foot forward at a time when it gets the most attention.
Auriemma is not one to mince words. He is also one of the few people whose complaints will draw attention at the top of the sport, and it is hard to argue that he doesn’t have a point with a lot of his comments.
