The dream of coaching women’s college basketball was never even a remote thought in 1961 for Geno Auriemma, age seven, confused, and journeying to a multiethnic, changing America from the town of Montella, located in southern Italy, in the Campania region. 

Geno’s humble life, as he knew it then, originated from the poor beginnings of a backward, little Italian town (where he was born and raised) where piped-in, gas heat and running water were considered to be luxurious living items; the progressive impetus of a new, American daily life would radically and forever change this naive Italian kid, his parents, and his younger brother and sister.