Geno Auriemma cemented his status in college basketball history on Wednesday night after No. 2 ranked UConn defeated Fairleigh Dickinson 85-41. The win marked the 1,217th of Auriemma’s coaching career, making him the winningest coach in NCAA Division I basketball history, and the moment was celebrated with the Huskies presenting the coach with an actual goat, symbolizing his status as the Greatest of All Time.

The goat was led onto the floor, causing cheers from the crowd during a ceremony to honor Auriemma‘s achievement. The moment brought together 63 past players, including Renee Montgomery, Sue Bird, and Diana Taurasi, and hundreds of screaming fans as the coach was presented with a plaque that read, “Geno Auriemma is hereby officially inducted into the International Order of old goats.”

Auriemma fielded questions from the media after the game, as usual. When asked how long his record could stand, Auriemma said, “The world has changed so much and the game is changing. The role of [a] coach is changing. I don’t know that coaches are going to want to be spending 40 years doing the same thing in the environment they’re asked to do it now.”

“I would hope that there’s a young coach out there who thinks they can do it, and there may be,” he continued. “Coaches are being treated with less respect, so they’re really up against [the] goal. I wouldn’t want to go back and do it over again, I’ll tell you that.”

Governor Ned Lamont also presented the coach with a new road sign honoring him as “the winningest coach in basketball history,” which will serve as a permanent reminder of his contributions to the program and state. Auriemma’s accomplishment beats the prior record of 1,216 wins set by former Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer, who retired after last season behind a 40+ year career.

The celebration included the past players wearing black Nike shirts featuring Auriemma’s face and the slogan, “There’s a thin line between love and great.” He embraced the players and said, “I don’t know how much I helped them get what they wanted, but they helped me get everything I wanted. So thank you.”

Geno Auriemma coaches his team against the Fairleigh Dickinson

Auriemma became the NCAA D1 all-time winning coach ( 

Image:

Getty)

Freshman phenom Sarah Strong‘s team-high 21 points and top WNBA draft prospect Paige Bueckers‘ near double-double powered the Huskies to the milestone. UConn held the Knights to just 8 points in the second and third quarters and shot 45 percent from the 3-point line as a team during the game.

The Huskies’ defense forced 18 turnovers and scored 12 fast-break points, while Dickinson had no fast-break points throughout the game. UConn remains only under South Carolina in the NCAA women’s basketball rankings, as the reigning champions are off to a perfect 5-0 start.

Auriemma’s undefeated Huskies’ next challenge will be against Oregon State for the Baha Mar women’s championship on Nov. 25. The game will be played at the Baha Mar Convention Center in the Bahamas.