UConn Coach Auriemma's Comments on NIL, Transfers Stoke Fire on Social Media

Geno Auriemma's thoughts on NIL and transfers referenced a former Seton Hall star who transferred away from the Pirates

UConn women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma has never been one to hold back, and his comments after his team’s game with St. John’s recently about NIL and the transfer portal were no exception.

But someone did take exception to a player being included in his comments.

Auriemma was asked about the state of the game, most notably how NIL and the transfer portal are, in some cases, being used hand-in-hand to recruit.

Auriemma said he wasn’t that worried about losing his players. After all, his program has won 11 national titles and his players have access to some of the biggest NIL deals in the country. For instance, his top player, Paige Bueckers, was the first college player to sign a deal with Gatorade.

"How do you coach in an environment where the players feel like they owe you nothing and you owe them everything?"

Geno Auriemma talks about the challenges of coaching with NIL and the transfer portal: pic.twitter.com/yzBvAmHyrF

— UConn on SNY (@SNYUConn) January 13, 2024

But, as Auriemma spoke, he began talking about other programs, those with less of a legacy than his. He praised the work that St. John’s women’s coach Joe Tartamella had done with the Red Storm in recent seasons.

But Auriemma went on to say that many programs that don’t have UConn’s cachet have to deal with a different set of issues, including how to build relationships with players that may hop from one program to the next. That model, he said, was “unsustainable,” and he may be right.

“How do you coach in an environment where the players believe they owe you nothing and that you owe them everything?” Auriemma said.

But Auriemma also got into trouble after intimating that a former Big EAST player transferred due to financial considerations from NIL.

“You’ve got a player that’s really, really, really good that you coached the hell out of and you just made them who they are — like Seton Hall last year — and that kid goes ‘yeah, well, I think I can go make more money somewhere else,’” Auriemma said. “Okay, well, you wouldn’t have been this good if it weren’t for the coaching staff you have right now.”

The player that Auriemma was referring to was former Seton Hall guard Lauren Park-Lane. At Seton Hall she was a three-time All-Big EAST player and averaged more than 20 points last season.

Park-Lane took it in stride on social media, saying she still had eligibility left. But shortly after posting that, she posted something that made it clear she took it personally.

One of Park-Lane’s coaches did not. Kaiti Jones is the strength and conditioning coach at MSU and she didn’t hold back.

The NCAA is currently looking at other models to help facilitate NIL, including allowing schools to pay players directly.

Wonder what Auriemma thinks about that?