Geno Auriemma’s apology isn’t settling his Final Four controversy. Now, a Notre Dame legend is calling out the veteran coach for ‘hypocrisy’ over his postgame conduct.
For Muffet McGraw, Geno Auriemma has been a rival who, by her own admission, in another life, could have been friends. A fellow Hall of Famer, McGraw also established a college basketball dynasty with her Notre Dame women’s team, leading the Fighting Irish to nine Final Four appearances during her 33-year tenure.
McGraw has since become a media personality and shared her perspective on ESPN on the verbal spat between Geno Auriemma and Dawn Staley after the Final Four matchup between the two coaches’ teams. The 70-year-old highlighted the UConn head coach’s hypocritical stance on game protocols regarding handshakes that led to the verbal exchange.
“At the end of the game in every sport, you congratulate the other team. You shake hands with their players. You shake hands with their coaches,” said McGraw before adding, “For him to sit up there and criticize her for not meeting him at half court when he broke the same protocol was quite a bit hypocritical and just really unsportsmanlike. It was an ugly incident. We don’t need that kind of thing in our game when we’re on the national stage.”
Statement from Head Coach Geno Auriemma pic.twitter.com/q8La6lMqN6
— UConn Women’s Basketball (@UConnWBB) April 4, 2026
Video evidence disproved Geno’s argument that Staley did not shake hands pre-game, and even if that were true, the UConn head coach ended up doing the same post-game. If the 72-year-old feels so passionately about following game protocols, he shouldn’t have disrespected it by doing the same after the Final Four defeat.
Geno’s apology addresses his behavior and congratulates Dawn Staley & Co. for the win in his recent statement. However, the 72-year-old was also visibly distraught with the officiating during the game, pointing towards one key disparity in refereeing the game.
Geno Auriemma’s reaction takes attention away from foul call disparity in Final Four defeat
While the college basketball universe engaged in a passionate debate about Geno Auriemma’s postgame verbal exchange with South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley and the overall reaction, the more pressing issue pointed out by the 72-year-old was largely overlooked
The UConn Huskies head coach pointed out the number of free throws taken by South Carolina compared to his own team, and also highlighted the foul calls that went the other way. The officiating prompted a mid-game reaction from Geno, and he aired his views on it during the game itself.
“There were six fouls called that quarter [the third], all of them on us. And they’ve been beating the s— out of our guys down there the entire game,” the 72-year-old told ESPN.
UConn attempted only 6 free throws the entire game, which is a huge contrast to South Carolina’s 22 free throw attempts. Also, referees called 17 personal fouls on the UConn Huskies, whereas South Carolina ended up committing only 8, as per the officials.
While the UConn Huskies were also outclassed in the paint and in rebounding, the foul disparity is noteworthy, especially given how physically the UConn Huskies players were being guarded on the floor.
However, Geno’s outburst overshadowed an actual concern regarding officiating standards, something that has been pointed out across college basketball divisions in both men’s and women’s tournaments.
