Aaliyah Edwards Credits Geno Auriemma for UConn Dominance in Unrivaled 1v1 Tournament
The Semifinals and Championship round of the Unrivaled one-on-one tournament takes place on February 14.
There has been a ton of interest around this event, which is shown by the viewership ratings that the tournament accrued during the first two rounds earlier this week.
While the on-court action between most of the world's best female basketball players has been entertaining, some of the off-court drama is what has captured the most interest.
One of the most interesting storylines heading into today's final one-on-one contests is that three of the four remaining players (Aaliyah Edwards, Napheesa Collier, and Azura Stevens) are all former UConn Huskies, with Arike Ogunbowale being the lone non-UConn semifinalist.
When speaking with the media on February 13, Aaliyah Edwards touted her alma mater when asked about the Unrivaled tournament's UConn dominance.
"Yeah, it's pretty crazy," Edwards said of UConn's success in the tournament, per SNY. "But again, I don't think I'm surprised because of the standard we uphold ourselves while playing at UConn under Coach [Auriemma]. I think that he does a great job preparing us for this stage, and stages like one-on-one.
"He did reach out to me and we were chatting a little bit," Edwards continued. "But yeah, it just speaks to the caliber that he produces at UConn. And us Huskies, we're not the ones to be played with."
Aaliyah Edwards was asked about her, Azura Stevens & Napheesa Collier all being Huskies and being 3 of the 4 semifinalists in the Unrivaled 1-on-1 Tournament:
— UConn on SNY (@SNYUConn) February 13, 2025
"I don't think I'm surprised because of the standard we uphold ourselves while playing at UConn under Coach [Geno]" pic.twitter.com/g16wkkEesb
Edwards produced arguably the biggest upset in the entire tournament, as she shut out Unrivaled co-founder (and fellow former UConn star) Breanna Stewart in the first round.
She'll be facing Ogunbowale in the Semifinals. And if Edwards wins that one, she's sure to face another one of Geno Auriemma's pupils.
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Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.