UConn's Geno Auriemma: Most players are against COVID-19 shutdown

Baylor Lady Bears head coach Kim Mulkey made headlines over the weekend when she said that the NCAA is continuing college basketball seasons amid the COVID-19 pandemic because of "the almighty dollar" and the money generated by the men's tournament. 

Legendary UConn Huskies women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma responded to those comments during a Monday Zoom call and added that he believes most players want to complete the campaign despite risks associated with the health crisis. 

"Talking to coaches around the country. Almost nobody gets infected by playing basketball," Auriemma said, per Mechelle Voepel of ESPN. "I think the number of people that contract COVID by playing against somebody, it's been like almost zero. Everything that's happened has happened off the court.

"So you mean to tell me these players wouldn't be getting COVID? Matter of fact, coaches are getting COVID at home. If you ask these players, 'Do you want to play, or do you not want to play?' except for a few minor instances, ask the players and 100% of them are gonna say, 'I want to play.'"

Mulkey battled the coronavirus earlier and had her team go through a pause that cost Baylor practice and playing time ahead of Saturday's loss to the Iowa State Cyclones. 

"One conference does this, one conference does that," Mulkey said. "The (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) says this. Everybody is confused. I’m confused. I’m uncomfortable coaching. I understand, COVID is real. I’ve had it — come talk to me sometime. But I don’t know ... all the calls and procedures, that’s gonna go on and make it unusual, uncomfortable for every program. We’re no different at Baylor."

Auriemma seemed to agree with Mulkey. 

"You know, Kim has some strong opinions on things," he said. "And I think if we asked anybody, I don't know that anything that she said was completely off the charts wrong.

"However, having said that ... the almighty dollar has a lot to do with what we are doing. And without the men's NCAA tournament, there's a lot of things that happen in the NCAA that don't happen. There's a lot of championships -- mainly all of them -- that wouldn't be held, if it wasn't for the men's basketball tournament."

Auriemma continued: 

"But the reality of the situation is, if we don't have a men's basketball tournament for two years in a row, then a lot of things that we are used to having, you're not going to have. Because it's not like the women's tournament is going to go out there and make enough money to pay for anything. We're gonna make some money, but not enough to survive.

"And yeah, maybe it's easy if you're at a Power 5 football school, and you're making millions and millions and millions of dollars, that's great. But 90% of the schools in America are not in that situation. So, it is about the money. That's just the reality of it."

UConn was supposed to play Baylor on Jan. 7 but had that game canceled due to the coronavirus issues impacting Mulkey and her program. While Auriemma said that players and teams that don't wish to participate can opt out of the remainder of the season, his comments suggest he and his squad want to chase a national title for as long as possible.