That lit a fire under them

WNBA star Napheesa Collier shared an interesting comment Geno Auriemma made to his players after UConn’s history four-peat from 2013 to 2016. Collier, who played with the Huskies from 2015 to 2019, said Auriemma had six current WNBA players on his team after Breanna Stewart and the other seniors left the program in 2016:

“It’s funny because, you know, my freshman year, Stewie was a senior. That’s when they had won four championships in a row, never been done. After they graduated, he’s like, ‘Well, all the talent is gone, so you guys need to be smarter because we don’t have anymore talented basketball players.’ We had like six WNBA players on the team still.”

Fans on social media reacted to Collier’s comments, looking for meaning in Auriemma’s comments:

“One thing about Geno, he KNOWS his players and that lit a fire under them. This probably one of the most slept on classes in this UCONN dynasty,” one wrote.

“Motivation is a beautiful thing 😂,” added another.

“Reverse psychology 🧐,” a third commented.

Meanwhile, a few others agreed with Auriemma’s comments, and some pointed out that Collier was the only good player at UConn after its dynasty ended.

“They last won a championship in 2016, so he wasn’t totally wrong…,” a user wrote.

“The only good one is phee and she just became elite so he wasn’t lying,” a fan added.

“Better ring up Candace Parker’s agent and apologize or something…shake that curse off😜😂,” another wrote.

The Minnesota Lynx drafted Collier as the No. 6 pick in 2019. She has earned four WNBA All-Star honors since going pro.

Geno Auriemma’s UConn will face St. John’s in 2025 Big East Tournament quarterfinals

Geno Auriemma’s top-seeded UConn will face St. John’s in their first game of the Big East Tournament on Saturday. The game will top off at noon ET from Mohegan Sun Arena on FS1.

St. John’s took down No. 9 seed Butler 66-50 on Friday in its first game of the Big East Tournament. However, the Huskies got a first-round bye since they won the Big Ten regular season title.

Auriemma has already won 27 conference tournaments and will be looking to add another honor to his list in the coming days.

Edited by John Maxwell