As South Carolina put a halt to Geno Auriemma’s Huskies 54-game unbeaten run, a strong incident on the sidelines got everyone’s attention. A verbal spat between Dawn Staley overshadowed the Gamecocks’ win, but now Auriemma, realizing his mistake, is trying to make things right.

“There’s no excuse for how I handled the end of the game vs. South Carolina. It’s unlike what I do and what our standard is here at Connecticut. I want to apologize to the staff and the team at South Carolina. It was uncalled for in how I reacted. The story should be how well South Carolina played, and I don’t want my actions to detract from that. I’ve had a great relationship with their staff, and I sincerely want to apologize to them,” Auriemma said, apologizing for his behavior.

Auriemma had apparently approached Staley after the game ended (62-48) in favor of the Gamecocks for a postgame handshake when things got a little unsavory. Auriemma stopped Staley to complain. Understandably, Staley took exception to his comments, which he later said were a complaint about her not shaking his hand during pregame introductions.

While things looked to go up a few more notches, the referees and assistants intervened to defuse the matter, and Auriemma took this distraction to make his exit, skipping the postgame formalities altogether.

So what made Geno Auriemma behave the way that he did?

“I have no idea. But I’m going to let you know this: I’m of integrity. So if I did something wrong to Geno, I had no idea what I did,” said Staley, who cleared her side on the matter.

But that wasn’t the only thing that Auriemma took offense to that night, as many things didn’t go his way. He did not like Dawn’s interaction with the refs; he also complained about waiting for Staley during the pregame warmups, and last but not least, he blamed the South Carolina players for ripping off Sarah Strong’s jersey, which, upon further review, was found to be Strong’s own doing amidst her frustrating night on the court.

Many believed that it was more his team’s performance on the court that brought about this erratic behavior. As the prospect of defending their title vanished, Auriemma’s grudge became more evident.

While Geno has already apologized for the inconvenience caused on his part, a close Dawn associate and women’s basketball advocate, entertainment and sports lawyer Londen McMillan, isn’t allowing this infraction to slide.

Auriemma “Embarrassed Himself” Feels Women’s Basketball Advocate

While Dawn Staley has allowed the water to flow under the bridge, her longtime friend and women’s basketball advocate Londen McMillan had some words of his choice for Geno Auriemma.

For the record, McMillan also represented Staley during the 1996 Olympics. After congratulating the South Carolina team, the lawyer chose to focus his attention on Auriemma, and none of his shots missed the mark.

“Many were appalled and offended to see Geno Auriemma confront Dawn Staley towards the end of the game with such fury and vitriol, evidencing the poorest act of sportsmanship ever seen on national television. As a celebrated basketball coach with the most NCAA championships, he embarrassed himself, his team, and the university. He must account and show leadership,” said McMillan.

McMillan didn’t seem to make any effort to hide his contempt for the matter. And if Auriemma is listening, he will certainly have to make an effort to seek forgiveness. Londell McMillan officially asked for a public apology, and now Auriemma has provided that as well.

McMillan believes it will only serve as a benefit for basketball by accepting loss with honor rather than being unapologetic and uncontrollable.

“Geno must lead by example in this moment and show his team a valuable lesson in accountability, humility, and accepting defeat just as Dawn exhibited with grace last year when her team lost to UConn. That is one of the virtues and codes of sports,” said McMillan.

This makes you wonder what a difference this one year makes. Just last year, Staley and her team were on the losing end, watching UConn celebrate a championship. This time around, the shoe is on the other foot as they may very well lift their 4th trophy if they manage to get past Cori Close’s UCLA. A very sweet turnaround indeed for the Gamecocks.