Geno Auriemma Tells Story Behind First UConn Contract In Fun Video

STORRS, CT — After 40 years and 12 national championships, a fun video on the University of Connecticut women's basketball social media channels depicts how Geno Auriemma wound up in Storrs. The journey began at a doughnut shop on Main Street in Willimantic and is now part of the Naismith Hall of Fame.

Going back, it was a dreary, rainy day on May 17, 1985. Auriemma's accommodations on campus were in an older housing unit whose steam radiators thought it was still February with the wind whipping across Mirror Lake.

Storrs also wasn't what it is today back then and Auriemma joked that the sidewalks might still have been dirt.

Part of his interview was getting into then-athletic director John Toner's car and taking a ride that wound up on Route 195. It eventually stopped at a Dunkin' Donuts in Willimantic that, with a Dairy Queen nearby, isn't even the most popular venue on its block.

But the two signatures set an epic course.

In the video, Auriemma puts his trademark humorous spin on his first contract, early recruiting, the days before Gampel Pavilion and other topics.

The the full video can be seen here.

https://www.facebook.com/reel/...