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ESPN pundit Michael Wilbon confronted UConn women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma on Monday following the coach’s outburst toward South Carolina’s Dawn Staley on Friday night.
Auriemma was apparently frustrated by Staley’s lack of a traditional handshake before UConn and South Carolina played their Final Four game. South Carolina would end up winning the game, but Auriemma and Staley had a heated exchange at the end of the game as they went up to greet each other after the game was over.
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South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley and UConn head coach Geno Auriemma argue after a semifinal game in the NCAA women’s college basketball tournament at the Final Four in Phoenix on April 3, 2026. (Rick Scuteri/AP)
UConn’s coach also complained at halftime that Sarah Strong wasn’t fouled despite her jersey being torn. Strong later said she accidentally tore her own jersey.
Wilbon minced no words in his criticism of Auriemma on ESPN’s “Pardon the Interruption.”
“I’m going to take the rest of the time to deal with Geno, who was guilty not only of the handshake, but also of the false excuses and made-up lies that he had a torn jersey, claiming that the other team acted like thugs when their own player tore her own jersey. This is the shameful behavior of an extremely insecure bully,” he said via Awful Announcing. “It was irritable, it was classless.”
“The fictional visualization of the torn jersey is unbelievable. The apology wasn’t even directed to the person he offended. We’re all taught to shake hands at the end of a game, no matter what. Maybe before a game. He couldn’t even do that. He walked away, then he lied on national television, in series after series of interviews, and accused the South Carolina players of doing something that his own players did as if we didn’t. not all television. And the excuses afterwards, it was all shameful.”
Auriemma released a statement on the matter, apologizing for his own behavior.
South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley and UConn head coach Geno Auriemma argue after a semifinal game in the NCAA women’s college basketball tournament at the Final Four in Phoenix on April 3, 2026. (Rick Scuteri/AP)
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“There is no excuse for the way I handled the end of the South Carolina game,” Auriemma said in a statement posted on social media. “This doesn’t sound like what I do and our standards here in Connecticut.
“I want to apologize to the South Carolina staff and team. My reaction was inappropriate. The story should be how well South Carolina played, and I don’t want my actions to take away from that. I have had a great relationship with their staff and I sincerely want to apologize to them.”
Staley took the high road when asked about the incident after the team’s loss to the UCLA Bruins in the national championship.
“I don’t want to — it’s UCLA day, right? Let’s keep it UCLA, they win the national championship,” Staley told reporters via The Athletic. “…We’re not going to ruin UCLA’s day with this.”
South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley speaks during a news conference during the Final Four of the NCAA college basketball tournament in Phoenix on April 4, 2026. (John Locher/AP)
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Staley has yet to fully address the incident and what she yelled at Auriemma during their exchange.
