Auriemma to stay with Connecticut

STORRS, Conn. (AP) — Connecticut women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma couldn’t pass up coaching an Olympic team and couldn’t imagine not coaching the Huskies.

So he’ll do both.

Auriemma was introduced Wednesday as the coach of the U.S. women’s basketball team for the next three years, through the 2012 Olympics in London.

The 55-year-old Auriemma just guided Connecticut to its sixth national championship and third perfect season.

The opportunity to coach in the Olympics presented the next challenge.

“There’s a lot of people who probably take it for granted that you get opportunities like this because you’re born in this country and you feel a sense of entitlement. I wasn’t and it means a lot to me and the people I grew up with,” said Auriemma, who was born in Italy but came to the U.S. as a 7-year-old in 1961 and became a U.S. citizen about 15 years ago.

“I can’t imagine that there’s anything I’ll ever do in my coaching career that will be as meaningful as for me to win the gold medal,” he said.

Auriemma, who was an assistant coach on the 2000 Olympic team, said he doesn’t see any problem doing both jobs.

“The USA Basketball program is something that I will do in the way it needs to be done with the help of a lot of people,” Auriemma said. “The only difference is that any time that I would have off from coaching UConn that used to be off, is now on.”

Auriemma said he expects to have a WNBA coach and another college coach as assistants.

South Carolina coach Dawn Staley, who won three Olympic gold medals as a player and was an assistant coach on the team that won gold in Beijing last summer, said she’d love to remain on the staff.

“Of course, as would anybody that plays. I gave over half my life to USA Basketball. I’d like to stay in the fray to position myself to one day be in Geno’s position,” Staley said.

Staley praised the selection of Auriemma as coach.

“I think Geno’s been tremendous with our game here in the states. He’s won, he’s won a lot. His record speaks volumes. When the committee decided to go on that, he was the top choice,” she said.

Auriemma is likely to be reunited with several of his former players on the national team, including Diana Taurasi and Sue Bird, who both won gold medals in China.