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Geno Auriemma has coached UConn women’s basketball for 40 years. By his side that entire time has been his college sweetheart, Kathy, “whom he considers his most valued and trusted source of guidance and loyalty,” per his website. Last year, he said, “I’ve been exceptionally lucky. I’ve had the good fortune of having a partner that understands and believes in what I’m doing.”
Kathy plays a vital role in the team. “When you think of the brains of UConn basketball, you think of coach Auriemma,” former player Stefanie Dolson said. “But when you think of the heart, you think of Mrs. A.”
Here, get to know Geno Auriemma’s wife, Kathy Auriemma (née Osler):
She grew up in the Philadelphia suburbs.
Kathy Osler grew up outside Philadelphia, and graduated from Cheltenham High School in 1972. According to her daughter, “Her mother was a child actress who knew Judy Garland; her father was a decorated war hero. As a kid, Mom learned the value of independence, progressive politics and being a nice person. She also developed a backbone of steel.”
Kathy and Geno met in college.
As a freshman at Montgomery County Junior College in 1972, Geno met Kathy. “We met our first year of community college. If he had given me a diamond back then I would have had him investigated,” Kathy joked recently.
Geno recalled of their meeting, “There’s probably two versions of the story of how we met, My version is she has been following me around for about a week, or something like that, you know, stalking me, and eventually, you know, I got tired…And hers is probably closer to the truth. She was a cheerleader and I was on the team, and we’re supposed to meet after the game. Everybody left, and she’s standing there. And I said, ‘Okay, where’s your house? Where are we going here?’ And she said, ‘See that drug store over there?’ I said yes. She goes, ‘Well, my mom and I have an apartment on top of the drugstore.’ I was like, like, hit the brakes. You know? I think we almost got an accident. Like, you got to be kidding me. The rest is history.”
They married in 1978.
As CT Insider noted, “Auriemma borrowed money from his sister to hold a reception. Kathy remembers sneaking off just after the wedding, opening a few gifts with urgency and curiosity. They owed money for the ceremony, payable that day. Did anyone give cash?”
She is a mom and grandmother.
Kathy and Geno have three children, Alysa, Jenna, and Michael, and four grandchildren.
“My mom’s independent streak is what makes her marriage to my dad work. When Dad isn’t coaching during the season, he’s running conferences or going recruiting. Someone more accustomed to co-dependency would not be OK with all that alone time. But my mom shrugs it off,” Alysa wrote of her parents’ marriage.
She worked as an English teacher.
“She’s a handler, like Scandal’s Olivia Pope,” Alysa said of her mom. “A former English teacher, she knew how to wrangle kids into doing their stuff. Sure, there were times I didn’t do what I was supposed to, but the guilt of not doing it would be so bad that I’d end up apologizing profusely before her yelling ceased. My mom didn’t inspire fear so much as a desire to be good.”
Kathy is very involved in the lives of her husband’s players.
“Mom’s a mom. She’s perfect at it,” Alysa said. “It’s why members of the UConn women’s basketball team feel the way they do about her. It’s why she’s been to several former players’ weddings, even participating in some (she, my sister and I were all involved in Meghan Culmo’s wedding). While the culture of family within the UConn community is only one reason why the team is successful, it’s a pretty large, important cog in the machine. My mom is able to talk to them in a way Dad might not be able to. They trust her. As they should.” She typically travels with the team.
The Auriemmas run Café Aura.
In 2019, they purchased Cavey’s, their favorite restaurant in Manchester, Connecticut, and turned it to Café Aura.
Senior News Editor
Emily Burack (she/her) is the Senior News Editor for Town & Country, where she covers entertainment, celebrities, the royals, and a wide range of other topics. Before joining T&C, she was the deputy managing editor at Hey Alma, a Jewish culture site. Follow her @emburack on Twitter and Instagram.
