Connecticut head coach Geno Auriemma is a master of many things, and when it comes to basketball, his place in history can’t be denied with a record 12 national women’s championships.
Auriemma, a Philadelphia native, also appears to be a master connoisseur of pizza, and when the Huskies completed their 34th consecutive victory with a 99-50 win against Villanova on Thursday night, he had a bit to say concerning his taste buds.
Connecticut’s postgame meal was pizza, and before he said a word during his postgame press conference about how the defending national champions played, Auriemma went on a hilarious rant about the quality of the Nutmeg State’s pies.
“The Pizza Capital of the world, my ass,” Auriemma said, adding the meal was basically ‘some red stuff they poured on the box and called it pizza,’ that must have been delivered hours before at shootaround.
“Don’t believe those signs, Mel, when you come into Connecticut, ‘Pizza Capital of the World,’” Auriemma said. ‘It’s (expletive). We’re going to get better pizza, I promise you. I’ll bring some for you guys to taste it. The good stuff, when we get the good stuff. Not the crap we’re passing off as pizza now. Being Italian and being from Philly, no, sorry. It doesn’t live up to the standards of UConn or the State of Connecticut.”
Auriemma didn’t name the pizza chain that was delivered to the locker room, but it certainly wasn’t delicious Frank Pepe’s, which has eight locations in the state.
There is a reason Auriemma is a Hall of Famer. He demands excellence on the court from his players and from his pizza.