A month ago UConn coach Geno Auriemma was a breath away from comparing Shea Ralph to Curt Cignetti. “She’s not quite [Indiana Hoosiers coach] Curt Cignetti yet, but to go down there and do what she’s done in such a short period of time, I think, is really cool,” Auriemma said of Ralph and the 19-0 Vanderbilt at the time. 

Let’s not forget Ralph is from the school of Auriemma, winning the National Championship under Auriemma in 2000 and then being an assistant there from 2008 to 2021. As both teams head to March, Ralph has provided an insight into Auriemma’s coaching  and how it has inspired her.

“Most of the time, coaches, we can only screw things up. We get in the way. We get in the way of greatness. We want to over-coach and it’s just not about us,” Shea Ralph said on the Hoops 360 podcast.  “The best thing I can do for Aubrey (Galvan) and Mikayla (Blakes) is let them play freely and guide them, mentor them, teach them, and then let’s go see. We’re going to do some really good things. We’re probably going to do some things that aren’t great, but the goal is to win the game. So continue to play with confidence and freedom in a structure, but not a system.”

College basketball players arrive after pushing through a grueling school basketball schedule. Most know their game pretty well, especially the cream of the talent that joins top programs like UConn and Vanderbilt. The players know what works for them and what doesn’t. Research suggests that granting players some degree of autonomy increases their sense of competence, autonomy, and relatedness, all of which are predictors of higher levels of self-determined (intrinsic) motivation.

It makes basketball more fun for the players. There is a different level of satisfaction when one executes their own idea and it succeeds than one suggested by someone else. Also, it creates a process that stays beyond college basketball and a sustainable culture within a team. If they struggle in doing somethings on their own, then the coaches are always there to help.

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“We’re going to give you some structure and conceptually, we’re going to teach you how to play basketball,” Ralph further said. “And then you got to just continue to learn. And that takes patience and time.”

That is just 1 of the 3 pillars from Geno Auriemma’s book that Ralph pointed out. The other two being “the level of buy-in” and resilience. So, even while giving players the freedom to explore their game, it should be tied to the core ideas proposed by the coach. A balance between the two is critical and Geno Auriemma’s teams often nail that.

“There comes a point in time where you need to look inside and go, ‘I’m tired of getting it from Coach Auriemma,'” Auriemma said in 2016. “You should be tired of looking to me to get your inner strength. It’s got to come from you. Because now, once you look in the mirror and go, ‘OK, I need to do this,’ then you know that’s never going away. If you get it from me, it might go away.” And just look at the success Auriemma is having with this philosophy. 

Geno Auriemma Approaches Record Season After Making AP Poll History

UConn and Geno Auriemma have been like a cheat code. They are 29-0 this season, winning almost every game convincingly. As a prize for this domination, the Huskies remained at No. 1 in the latest AP Poll. That is the spot they have firmly planted their roots in. After that decision, Geno Auriemma became the all-time leader in AP Poll appearances by a coach with 655. He surpassed longtime Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer.

Every single one of the Huskies’ AP Poll appearances has been under Auriemma. He has built the program from the ground up. “It’s not magic. It’s not rocket science. It’s not like you go to the University of Connecticut and they sprinkle magic berry dust and, bam, you’re an All-American in a national championship,” Ralph said. “And I know that they make it look that way, which speaks volumes about what they do, because it’s really, really hard. But it’s also very simple.”

Now, they approach another historic milestone. If they win the final conference game of the season against Georgetown, UConn will finish with its 5th straight 30 win season. It will give the Huskies their 29th 30-win season in program history and also mark their most regular-season conference wins in a single season. However, it is not their final regular season game, as they will also face St. John’s in New York on Sunday before the postseason begins.